Cuban vice-president exchanges on socioeconomic issues of Matanzas.

During the meeting, the leader learned about the control actions and debt determination with different actors of the economy that the ONAT carries out, and about the sustained increase in the use of digital payment channels in the province, aspects on which, he insisted, work must continue.

The Vice President of Cuba, Salvador Valdés Mesa, exchanged this Friday in Matanzas with authorities responsible for the banking processes and other vital issues related to the socio-economic development of the province.

During the meeting, the leader learned about the control and debt determination actions carried out by the ONAT with different actors of the economy, and about the sustained increase in the use of digital payment channels in the province, aspects on which, he insisted, work must continue.

The also member of the Political Bureau reflected on the importance of having reliable information to make decisions, as well as on the need to complete the staffing of municipal and provincial structures of Finance and Prices, in the supervisory directorates and in the ONAT offices.

«This will make it possible to strengthen the fight against abusive prices and confront tax evasion, increase the pace of controls and enforcement. We have made progress, but we need stronger progress,» he stressed.

«That people use the platforms is an achievement. There are many magnetic cards in Matanzas. That is why it is necessary to train and advise the different economic actors. There are still many obstacles, and these technologies help in that sense. The idea is that whoever provides a service should be ready for these issues, and the population has to appreciate the government’s action against those who violate the law», he explained.

Mario Sabines Lorenzo, first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party, stressed that these issues are constantly and rigorously checked in the province.

«There are strengths in the territory, but efforts must continue. There is a provincial group to attend to bankarization, however, it is not so in the municipalities and that is the main difficulty we present,» he referred.

«We have been successful in the bankarization of the salaries of the citizens of Matanzas, and the payment of the electric service through digital means was achieved with determination. In spite of this, there are still bottlenecks in the productive and agricultural sector that we must solve in an integral way, since the production of food and the payments to the workers of the different productive forms are at stake», acknowledged the political leader.

With regard to the persistence of abusive and speculative prices, the Cuban vice-president was informed about the more than 100 meetings held in Matanzas with holders of different forms of non-state management for the preparation of prices of prioritized products, among them 44 MSMEs and more than 750 self-employed workers.

He was also given details of the almost five thousand fines applied, amounting to more than nine million 200 thousand pesos in the three control exercises carried out from July to date.

Noel Sánchez Roque, coordinator of the provincial government, acknowledged that they are aware of the popular demand to control prices and punish offenders. In this sense, he informed about how in these exercises more than 400 forced sales were carried out, almost 70 establishments were closed and more than 140 illegal businesses were identified.

Valdés Mesa was also interested in the problems and measures adopted in the territory for the prevention and confrontation of crime, illegalities and manifestations of corruption.

In his exchange with the people of Matanzas, Valdés Mesa urged to seek comprehensive solutions to the challenges facing the economy, among them, those related to electricity generation, the need to increase food production, and the preparation and assurance of the sugar harvest.

Prior to this meeting, in the morning, the Vice President shared with rice and sugar producers in the municipality of Calimete, where, accompanied by the highest political and government authorities in Matanzas, he learned about the difficulties that still persist in the production of these foods and the local solutions that are being implemented.

Written by Gabriel Torres.