MIAMI – Raul Castro and his protege, Miguel Diaz Canel, the president of Cuba, announced Thursday night they are unifying the island’s double currency system to get rid of the Cuban Convertible Peso, or CUC, which was pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Starting Jan. 1, the Cuban peso will be the island’s only valid currency and it will have an exchange rate of 24 pesos for every U.S. dollar. This is after more than 25 years of having two national currencies.
Castro, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, and Diaz Canel made the announcement on the government’s national TV and radio stations. Diaz Canel said the “unification” is not a magic solution to the island’s economic problems, but it will address inefficiencies.