Cuba passes "strategic" national development measures

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Cuba passes "strategic" national development measures

(Xinhua) 11:25, September 25, 2013

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HAVANA, Sept. 24 -- Cuba's Council of Ministers has approved a series of "strategic" development measures as part of an ongoing process to modernize its aging economic model, official media reported Tuesday.

The measures include the establishment of over 70 new nonagricultural cooperatives in both the public and private sectors, according to the Granma daily.

The new cooperatives, to be established with funding from the partners involved, will be able to apply for bank loans or credits in both the Cuban peso and the exchangeable Cuban convertible peso.

They will also be allowed to price their goods or services according to market conditions, Granma said.

Cuba has already initiated free-market reforms in the agricultural field.

Additionally, Cuban leader Raul Castro urged his cabinet to seek solutions to the country's growing aging problem.

"We have to dig into this problem and do the corresponding experiments. This is a very serious problem, along with the (low) birth rate, and we must find a solution," Granma quoted him as saying.

According to the latest figures of the 2012 Population and Housing Census, released last week, 18.3 percent of Cuba's 11.16 million inhabitants are aged 60 or above.

Cuba is expected to see 31 percent of its population aged 60 and over by 2030, the largest proportion in Latin America, according to the National Statistics Bureau.

Recent UN figures indicated that by 2050 Cuba will be among the world's 11 most aging countries, with 38 percent of its population aged over 60.

（Editor：LiangJun、Zhang Qian）