More reforms to come?

Wilfredo Cancio’s story in Sunday’s El Nuevo Herald claims that more reforms are in store. His reporting is based on anonymous government sources in Havana who said the following changes are on the way:

• ending the requirement for Cubans to obtain an exit permit to travel abroad;

• “free rental” of homes to Cubans and foreigners (this can already be done by Cubans who obtain a license and pay tax accordingly; it’s not clear if the license requirement, the tax, or both will be done away with);

• unrestricted sales of privately owned cars; and

• ending restrictions on internal migration, which mainly affects Cubans moving to Havana.

According to the article, other ideas are under study, such as increasing the Cuban peso’s value against the convertible peso, from 24:1 to 19:1, easing restrictions on Cuba’s small entrepreneurs, and initiating government sales of cars – Ladas for 9,000 convertible pesos.