During a televised roundtable, Central Bank of Cuba Minister-President Juana Lilia Delgado Portal outlined a gradual program of 20 transformations intended to restore the banking system’s core functions, improve services and strengthen the Cuban peso’s role as a means of payment, unit of account and store of value. The program covers four fronts: opening and capitalizing the financial system, expanding credit and savings, developing digital services, and reforming foreign exchange and remittance channels. It adds detail to proposals previously debated by parliament to permit private banking under central bank supervision and reshape the foreign exchange market. The opening would allow new banks and financial institutions with state, private or foreign capital, subject to licensing, regulation and supervision. An agricultural development bank is in the final stages of creation, while a planned interest rate mechanism would give commercial banks more autonomy to compete for savings and channel funds into lending. The central bank is also reviewing banks’ capital needs and credit guarantees, developing consumer credit and seeking to make financing more responsive to different economic sectors. Digital measures include differentiated rules for fintech companies, a cryptocurrency framework in its final proposal stage and projects using artificial intelligence. In foreign exchange, the first private exchange house is operating in Santa Clara under central bank supervision, with further applications pending. Planned pilots include digital remittance services and a platform through which individuals could participate in foreign currency auctions.
2026-09-16Central Bank of Cuba
Central Bank of Cuba outlines 20 banking reforms covering capital, credit, digital services and foreign exchange
The Central Bank of Cuba outlined 20 gradual reforms spanning bank capitalization, credit and savings, digital finance, and foreign exchange. The framework would admit supervised state, private and foreign participants, give banks more flexibility over savings rates and expand sector-specific lending. Fintech and cryptocurrency rules, private exchange houses, digital remittances and a foreign currency auction platform are also being developed.