HAVANA: Cuba’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow around 4 percent in the first half of this year, state media reported, citing government estimates.
“The economy has a good rate of growth. We have the conditions to finish the year in good shape, but we have to keep working hard,” Economy and Planning Minister Marino Murillo told the Council of Ministers during a meeting last Friday.
The government has set a 4 percent GDP growth target for this year after the island’s economy grew just 1.3 percent in 2014, or nearly a percentage point below the initial estimate.
The balance of trade has had a “positive” performance in the first half of this year, but there are “tensions in the external finances,” Murillo said.
All sectors of the economy grew in the January-June period, especially sugar, manufacturing, construction and trade, while the transportation, warehouse and communications sectors underperformed.
Supplies of some agricultural products, such as cheese, chicken, cold cuts, ground beef and sausages, were unstable due to production problems, forcing the government to spend $40 million to purchase these products.
Most of the investment planned for the year will take place in the second half, but a shortfall of 7.7 percent is expected.
President Raul Castro’s government expects the budget deficit for the year to be the equivalent of 4.2 percent of GDP, well below the forecast of 6.2 percent of GDP.
Castro has launched an overhaul of Cuba’s economy, implementing a limited opening for private business ventures and boosting efforts to attract foreign investment.
The forecast for 4 percent economic growth comes as Cuba and the United States work to restore diplomatic relations after a rupture of more than five decades.
