© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People push a car as the government announced it will hike the retail price of its 94 octane gasoline from 30 to 156 pesos per litre beginning February 1, in Havana, Cuba January 11, 2024. REUTERS/Yander Zamora
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HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba put off a five-fold increase in gasoline prices planned for Feb. 1 due to a cyberattack, Economy Vice Minister Mildrey Granadillo said on Wednesday, a sudden about-face just hours before the controversial hike was due to take effect.
“This decision is influenced by the occurrence of a cybersecurity incident in the computer systems for the marketing of fuels, the origin of which has been identified as a virus from abroad,” Granadillo said in the final minutes of the midday newscast on state-run TV.
Cuba in late December announced a series of measures, including hikes in fuel and public transport prices, to narrow a yawning deficit. Critics have described the measures inflationary, ill-timed and lacking incentives for domestic production.
Granadillo reiterated the government’s rationale, calling the price hikes a “necessity” to help reverse a festering economic crisis.
Fuel will remain at current prices, he noted. “There will not be a stoppage in the services we provide for the sale of fuel to our population.”
