
Cuba is tightening regulations on fledgling private businesses, reining in profits and beefing up oversight as the government wrestles with how best to manage fast-growing private enterprise in the communist-run country
Cuban authorities two years ago lifted a ban on private companies, in place since early in former leader Fidel Castro`s 1959 revolution, but the government now says some of those businesses have gotten out of hand, contributing to snowballing inflation and economic crisis.
Cuba`s Council of Ministers, the highest administrative body on the island, held an “extraordinary” session this week during which it proposed six decrees aimed at “bringing order” to the country`s growing private sector. One of those proposals will create a new “national institute” to oversee non-state businesses, the report in Cuba`s Granma newspaper said.
Private enterprise has boomed in Cuba in the last two years, with more than 11,000 businesses now selling food and household products as well as providing construction and tourism services. Such businesses have proved a lifeline for some as government rations and subsidized goods have become scarce, though high prices keep them off limits for most Cubans.
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