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Should not be funny but it hurts ... A shoe shop with two employees and a single pair of shoes in Centro Habana The displays of the La Reina store, belonging to the Caribe chain of stores and located in Centro Habana, are empty Natalia López Moya, Havana | January 03, 2022 https://www.14ymedio.com/cuba/zapateria-empleados-sandalias-Centro-Habana_0_3234276548.html The "special offer" was actually the only one and flawed. In the La Reina fur store, belonging to the Caribe chain of stores and located in Centro Habana, they only sold, this Monday, a pair of female platform sandals with a broken strap. The rest of the displays, dozens of them, were empty. Located on the popular corner of Reina and Galiano, the place occupies a large air-conditioned space surrounded by elegant stained glass windows that remain deserted. "There they sold some Brazilian Piccadilly brand shoes, they were a bit expensive, but they lasted because they were strong," Marta, a former client of that business, told 14ymedio, who sold her products in the now defunct convertible pesos. "There were for all types of public, from the smallest to the highest numbers and they also sold umbrellas, bags and other merchandise." Now, in the center of the store, two workers use their mobile phones to kill the hours that pass without interacting with the public. "We only have that pair that you see there, it's number 40, so they don't work for you," said one of the shop assistants to a lady who came looking for an offer. The woman asked when she would enter merchandise again. "God only knows," replied one of the shop assistants. Leaving the establishment, the woman complained: "What is the logic of keeping this place open spending air conditioning and electricity and the salary of two people, just to sell a pair of half-torn shoes?"

Cuba sees slow economic recovery at 4% in 2022 – official. https://www.reuters.com/business/cuba-sees-slow-economic-recovery-4-2022-official-2021-12-12/ HAVANA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A cash short and crippled Cuban economy will grow 4% next year as the Communist-run country struggles to recover from an economic crisis, according to a report by the prime minister posted over the weekend. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero’s annual report said the economy began a slow recovery of around 2% this year after declining 10.9% in 2020 and stagnating for several years before that. New U.S. sanctions on top of the decades-old trade embargo and the coronavirus pandemic cost the import-dependent nation at least $4 billion in revenues over the last two years, according to the government. The shortfall led to a 40% decline in imports and has hobbled the government's ability to provide Cubans with food, medicine, consumer goods and inputs for industry and agriculture. Cuba has defaulted on some payments to its creditors and suppliers. The government's decision to devalue the peso for the first time since Cuban leader Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution combined with increased dollarization of the economy have sparked triple-digit inflation estimated by local economists at around 500% this year. The goal of 4% growth could indicate that Cuba will still see shortages of critical goods and have continued difficulty paying creditors, said a western businessman in Cuba with years of experience in the market. The government is preparing measures to tame inflation and strengthen the peso, Marrero said. The peso is trading for around 70 to a dollar on the informal market versus the official rate of 24 pesos. “A set of measures must be adopted with a view to stopping the inflationary spiral,” Marrero said in his report, without stating what they might be. Marrero credited a vaccination campaign that has reached 80% of the country's population for clearing the way for a nascent recovery next year.