Cuba’s Financial Overhaul: 5 Critical New Policies From The Ministry Of Finance And Prices (MFP) For 2025

The Ministry of Finance and Prices (MFP) of Cuba is at the epicenter of the nation's most ambitious and challenging economic reforms, with its 2025 agenda marking a significant pivot toward fiscal consolidation and a reinforced tax system. As of late 2024 and early 2025, the MFP, under the direction of Minister Vladimir Regueiro Ale, has published a series of crucial resolutions and complementary norms to the State Budget Law, signaling a deep commitment to correcting internal distortions and re-boosting the struggling Cuban economy. This comprehensive overview details the five most critical financial and fiscal measures announced by the MFP that will define Cuba’s financial landscape throughout 2025. The new policies reflect a dual strategy: stabilizing the national budget and tackling the persistent issue of high price inflation, which the Ministry has admitted may take longer than initially expected to control. The measures, published in the *Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba*, touch on everything from public debt financing to personal income tax and the controversial issue of hard currency allocation, making the MFP the central institution for understanding Cuba's immediate economic future.

The Architect of Fiscal Reform: Minister Vladimir Regueiro Ale

The current head of the *Ministerio de Finanzas y Precios* (MFP) is a key figure in Cuba's economic restructuring.

• Full Name: Vladimir Regueiro Ale
• Current Role: Minister of Finance and Prices of the Republic of Cuba.
• Background: Regueiro Ale is an economist and Cuban politician.
• Career Trajectory: Prior to his appointment as Minister, he held various high-level responsibilities within the Ministry of Finance and Prices, including serving as First Deputy Minister (*Viceministro Primero*).
• Key Mandate: His tenure is defined by the challenge of managing the nation's fiscal policy and price control in the wake of the *Tarea Ordenamiento* (Ordering Task) and persistent economic crises, with a strong focus on strengthening the *sistema tributario* (tax system) and achieving a "better fiscal performance" in 2025.

5 Critical Financial and Fiscal Policies Spearheaded by the MFP for 2025

The Ministry of Finance and Prices has utilized its authority to implement a suite of complementary norms to *Ley 174* (the State Budget Law for 2025), aiming to stabilize the *deuda pública* (public debt) and increase state revenue. These measures form the core of the government's economic projections for the year.

1. The Introduction of Sovereign Bonds to Finance Public Debt

One of the most significant and novel financial moves for 2025 is the official authorization for the issuance of Sovereign Bonds.

• Policy Instrument: *Resolución 25/2025* of the MFP.
• Purpose: The resolution approves the emission, placement, and amortization of *Bonos Soberanos* (Sovereign Bonds) denominated in Cuban pesos (*pesos cubanos*).
• Financial Goal: This measure is explicitly designed to finance the public debt corresponding to the 2025 State Budget.
• Significance: The introduction of sovereign bonds marks a shift in how the Cuban government intends to manage and finance its fiscal deficit, tapping into domestic capital markets and offering a new instrument for public debt management.

2. Major Adjustments to Personal Income Tax (Impuesto sobre los Ingresos Personales)

To reinforce the tax system, the MFP has introduced specific resolutions that adjust how personal income taxes are calculated and paid, particularly for non-state actors.

• Policy Instrument: *Resolución 17 de 2025*.
• Core Change: This resolution establishes new tributary adjustments for the calculation, payment, and additional liquidation of the Personal Income Tax (*Impuesto sobre los Ingresos Personales*).
• Impact: It primarily affects individuals, including those in the private sector, requiring them to comply with updated methodologies for tax declaration and settlement, ensuring greater fiscal control over private economic activities.

3. New Reference Values for Real Estate and Vehicle Taxes

A separate, yet related, tax measure focuses on capital transactions, specifically the sale of major assets.

• Policy Instrument: *Resolución 313 de 2024* (published in the 2025 Special Gazette).
• Core Change: The resolution sets minimum reference values (*valores referenciales mínimos*) for the liquidation and payment of taxes on personal income derived from the purchase and sale of homes and vehicles.
• Impact: By establishing minimum reference values, the MFP aims to combat tax evasion and ensure that taxes on these transactions—which have seen significant price fluctuations—are paid based on a government-determined floor, rather than potentially undervalued declared prices.

4. The 2025 State Budget (Ley 174) and Social Spending Priorities

The overarching framework for the MFP's work is the *Presupuesto del Estado para el año 2025* (State Budget for 2025), which was approved by the National Assembly of People's Power (*ANPP*) and published in December 2024.

• Key Allocation: The budget maintains a strong focus on social welfare, with 71% of the total budget destined for education, healthcare, and social security.
• Fiscal Goal: Despite the current economic hardships, the MFP projects a "better fiscal performance" in 2025 compared to 2024, underpinned by the new tax enforcement measures.
• Complementary Norms: The implementation of this budget is guided by the *Normas complementarias a la Ley 174*, which includes the resolutions on Sovereign Bonds and tax adjustments, providing the detailed legal framework for the year's financial operations.

5. Price Control and the Fight Against Inflation

While the MFP is fundamentally a fiscal and financial body, its "Prices" mandate is critical in the current inflationary environment.

• The Challenge: Minister Regueiro Ale has publicly acknowledged that reducing price inflation (*inflación de precios*) may take longer than initially expected, despite updated methodologies for price determination.
• Price Mechanisms: The Ministry is continuously involved in regulating prices for essential goods and services, often in coordination with other bodies like the Ministry of Economy and Planning (*MEP*).
• Special Taxes: The MFP is also responsible for the application of mechanisms like the *Impuesto Especial a Productos* (Special Tax on Products), a form of excise tax used to regulate consumption and generate revenue, which is a key tool in their price and revenue arsenal.

The Broader Economic Context: Dollarization and Hard Currency

The MFP's 2025 policies cannot be viewed in isolation. They operate within a challenging macroeconomic environment characterized by partial dollarization and hard currency shortages. The government introduced Decree-Law 113/2025, which institutionalizes a form of "partial dollarization" and establishes a new, centralized mechanism for the allocation and sale of hard currency (*divisas*) to state enterprises and other key economic actors. Although led by other ministries, the MFP plays a vital role in the fiscal and monetary implications of these policies, particularly in determining exchange rates and managing the financial flows resulting from these changes. The push for a stronger tax system is, in part, a response to the need for greater state revenue stability amid volatile foreign currency markets and the ongoing effects of the US embargo. The financial and fiscal measures enacted by the *Ministerio de Finanzas y Precios* for 2025—from issuing Sovereign Bonds to tightening Personal Income Tax regulations—underscore the Cuban government’s concerted effort to stabilize its economy. The success of these policies will be measured not only in budget performance but also in the MFP’s ability to curb persistent inflation and manage the nation’s public debt, making it the most watched financial institution in Cuba this year.