The Cuban government will cease using the ration book as a subsidy system starting this April, aiming to subsidize people instead of products amid the country's worst recent economic crisis. Details remain scarce, known mainly from leaks in official meetings and state press reports.
The policy was discussed at an administrative council session in Havana's Cotorro municipality in mid-February, as part of the government's program to "correct distortions" and re-energize the economy, according to Tribuna de La Habana.
Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz has repeated the slogan of subsidizing people, not products, for years. In December 2023, before the National Assembly of People's Power, he advocated cutting expenses to focus resources on the most needy, termed "vulnerable."
Recent examples show the shift: in February, on the Isle of Youth, one pound of beans sold for 280 pesos per person; in March, in Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, and Camagüey, three pounds of rice at 155 pesos each, at free-market prices instead of prior subsidies of 10 pesos per pound for beans and 6 for rice.
Ariadna, a Camagüey resident, bought sugar at 500 pesos per kilogram (230 pesos per pound) for her children under 13, a saving compared to 320 pesos in private shops. Oil will be sold at 990 pesos per liter per household in April, supplied by private firm Kanga.
In 2023, Cuba spent nearly 2 billion dollars on food imports, half for the rationed family basket. Economist Sergio Ángel noted that basic foods require ten minimum wages. A 2024 Food Monitor Program survey found 24.6% of respondents regularly go to bed without dinner.
A ration store manager stated: "Until a few years ago, the ration book provided seven pounds of rice per person, four of sugar, and other items at low prices; now, amid a bigger crisis, they eliminate it."