The Cuban Economy in 2017

The Cuban government is trying to put the best face it can on economic contraction. Here is one the best quotes I've read in a long time:

The Minister of Economy and Planning, Ricardo Cabrisas, said the financial problems are motivated by the non-compliance of exports income, the difficulty of several trading partners caused by low oil prices and contraction in the fuel imports.

That income just didn't comply! Stupid non-compliant income. Of course, what this mostly means is that Venezuela is collapsing and cannot send dollars or oil. That state of affairs will not be changing anytime soon.

Raúl Castro says Cuba can achieve 2% growth in 2017, which leads us to the next great quote.

To achieve those targets three premises will have to be carried out: guarantee exports and their opportune collection, increase national production to substitute imports, reduce all dispensable expenses and use available resources rationally and efficiently.

Don't expect "opportune collection" out of Venezuela. And "reduce all dispensable expenses" is a really scary phrase coming from the government, because it can mean things like "eliminate all caloric intake over the minimum."