By Prensa Latina
Havana : Newly elected Cuban President Raúl Castro has said his government gives the highest priority to meeting the basic needs of the people.
In his keynote address to the opening session of the 7th National People’s Power Assembly Sunday, Castro referred to several measures of the government aimed at improving the economy and living standard of the people.
He said that authorities are working on “progressive and gradual revaluation of the Cuban peso”.
He said, “under the present conditions of our economy the entitlements and subsidies required for numerous services and products distributed on an egalitarian basis, such as those provided by the ration card had become irrational and unsustainable”.
“It is our strategic objective today to advance in an articulate, sound and well-thought-out manner until the wages recover their role and everyone’s living standard corresponds directly with their legally earned incomes, that is, with the significance and quantity of their contribution to society,” he said.
He insisted that efforts towards adapting the economy to the new situation must not be made in haste so as to avoid possible negative consequences that may defeat the purpose of the endeavour.
It was Raul Castro’s first speech as president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, the two positions he holds for the next five years, according to the Cuban Constitution.