Banks start accepting US dollar deposits

HAVANA (CMC):

The Government of Cuba has announced that banks will again accept cash deposits in US dollars following the lifting of a ban prohibiting the practice.

Cubans had been unable to deposit dollars in cash into their accounts at banks and other financial institutions for almost two years.

The Cuban government brought in the ban in 2021, citing “continuing difficulties caused by the ongoing US embargo”.

The move comes amid the worst economic crisis to hit Cuba in decades. The resolution by the Central Bank of Cuba was published in Cuba’s Official Gazette last Monday and became effective immediately.

The resolution also stated that the “economic pressure” from the United States, which it said led to the ban in the first place, remained in place and that, therefore, “the root of the problem” had not been solved.

Cuba has been under US sanctions for more than six decades, but the economic restrictions placed on it were further tightened under the Trump administration.

Under the sanctions, it became increasingly difficult for Cuba’s central bank to find international banks willing to receive dollars in cash from the communist-run island.

While the Trump-era sanctions have so far remained in place under President Joe Biden, Cuban and US officials have been holding meetings to discuss another matter to look into the large number of Cubans trying to migrate to the US.

Last year, a record 220,000 Cubans were caught at the US-Mexico border trying to cross over to the US.