| Cos it ain't centralissimo enough yet... |
Moving to further centralize the communist state's control over the economy, the government's Central Bank announced Thursday that individual state companies would no longer handle foreign exchange. Beginning Saturday a single government account will be established for foreign currency and for convertible Cuban pesos, an exchangeable currency that trades 1-1 to the U.S. dollar and that is now used as the primary form of legal tender on the island. Under a series of steps to be introduced in the coming months, state enterprises will relinquish control over foreign exchange and convertible Cuban peso accounts. Any profits from sales or services will have to be deposited into that single government account. The move will severely limit any remaining autonomy inside the various state enterprises. It will also effectively turn back an earlier government policy calling for state enterprises to move toward self-financing by pouring earned foreign income back into their operations. Also, a state company that now wishes to buy any goods or services available only in foreign currency will need special approval from a new Foreign Exchange Approval Committee. The announcement was the latest in a series of moves in recent months aimed at reasserting government control over the economy in general, and over foreign currency income in particular.