Cuba To Issue Sovereign Bonds To Finance Fiscal Deficit

Cuba To Issue Sovereign Bonds To Finance Fiscal Deficit

HAVANA, July 4 (BERNAMA-NNN-ACN) -- Cuba will finance its 2013-2014
fiscal deficit by issuing sovereign bonds, which will be acquired by the
country's commercial banks, the Cuban Finance and Price Ministry said.

During debates at the Parliament's Economic Commission, the Ministry's
director of budget, Jesus Matos, told PL news agency that the initiative
will finance the public debt without funneling money into circulation,
but by using bonds payable in 20 years with redemption based on a
2.5-percent interest rate.

The official said the amount of bonds will reach 1.8 billion Cuban pesos
(equivalent to 1.8 billion dollars at official exchange rate), which is
the planned figure of the budget debt.

Meanwhile, Cuban lawmakers demanded higher quality and more control of
investment projects since they have a strong impact on the country's
social and economic development.

According to a report submitted to the parliamentarians, major
investment projects in 2014 are implemented in sectors such as textiles,
shoe making, the digital television program, raw materials, as well as
in the modernization of a steel plant in Havana, which will reach a
production capacity of up to 340 thousand tons of steel bars.

The president of the parliament commission analyzing the issue, lawmaker
Santiago Lajes, said that a recent visits by the deputies to several
investment projects in 13 provinces allowed identifying problems such as
inefficient technical preparation of the works, labor instability, lack
of quality control, and failure to meet contracts along with the lack of
skilled personnel.

The country is given steps ahead in strengthening investment control,
though there are still gaps including problems at entrepreneurial level
and failure to meet legal norms, the deputies agreed.

-- BERNAMA-NNN-ACN

Source: BERNAMA - Cuba To Issue Sovereign Bonds To Finance Fiscal
Deficit - http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=1051337