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Dragged Down By The Venezuela Crisis, Cuba Seeks Dollars To Stay Afloat

YAMIL LAGE
/
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Cubans exchange Cuban peso (CUP) and convertible peso (CUC) notes. The Cuban government first announced it intended to unify its dual currency system in October 2013, but it has not happened yet.

The Cuban government announced economic measures this week to seek dollars in a bid to stay afloat in the midst of an acute financial crisis triggered by its dependence on Venezuelan oil and new U.S. sanctions.

On Tuesday, Cuban Vice President Salvador Mesa and several ministers announced on television that the government was going to lower the prices of household appliances and other items on the condition that Cubans pay in dollars.

The move is an attempt to obtain a larger percentage of remittances sent from abroad.

Read more at our news partner the Miami Herald.

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