For Cuba, credit policy is latest shift in economy

[Judi Lynn]

Friday, November 25, 2011 - Page updated at 12:00 p.m.
For Cuba, credit policy is latest shift in economy
By PETER ORSI
The Associated Press

HAVANA — Cuba announced a new credit system Thursday that will offer loans to small-business owners, independent farmers and other citizens beginning next month, advancing promised changes to the country's state-planned economy.

Credit will also be available to people looking to purchase building materials, pay for labor associated with home construction, "acquire goods for their personal property or satisfy other needs," according to the government's Official Gazette.

The lack of a lending system has been one of the chief complaints of the expanding class of entrepreneurs running independent businesses as part of President Raul Castro's economic overhaul, which aims to right Cuba's foundering economy and has picked up steam since a landmark Communist Party summit in April.

Economists have also said credit is necessary if private businesses are to grow beyond subsistence levels.

More:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2016849544.html