Madrid/The first private exchange house in Cuba has the dollar through the roof. The first day after it was revealed that it was already in operation, ADT 64 bought the US currency at 710 pesos and sold it at 730. The value was not only much higher than that of the official Cadeca, 664 this Thursday (three pesos less than today’s Friday), but it also beat the demonized rate disclosed by The Touchcomputed in 700 since Wednesday.
Located at 64 Aires de Tristá Street, in Santa Clara, ADT 64 is close to the Santa Clara Libre hotel and a state exchange office. According to the independent media The Touchthat has exhaustively x-rayed the new businessthe corporate purpose of the company was gastronomic services, at least as stated as an activity in the registry. There are references on-line that show it as an ice cream parlor selling pizzas and hamburgers, but also old images of a sign that says Bar-Cafeteria.
The photographs that began to circulate this Thursday of its façade had another aspect: digital screens that show the changing value of nine international currencies. The euro, for example, is bought for 815 pesos and sold for 839. Nobody sells, neighbors told The Touch.
Martí News was able to speak with Arnel Matos Freirewhose contact information – telephone number and address – coincided with those of the company and who confirmed being the owner of 70% of the business. “When asked by Martí Noticias whether the remaining 30% belonged to the Cuban State, the businessman answered no. Matos explained that the business operates under the structure of a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (MSME), with another private partner,” the note says.
/ BCC
The owner did not give many more details, but maintained that he presented a proposal to the authorities to start the business and received the go-ahead to become a pilot experience that could be extended to the rest of the country. The project was advised by a doctor in Economic Sciences and activities began on August 31.
It is not known at what prices the currency has been changing, but it isThere is a public record of the evolution of official rateswhich in the same period have increased strongly. On September 1, the price of the US currency according to the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) was 636 pesos, a week later it was already at 644 and on the 15th at 659. And rising.
Matos told Martí News that the price of the currency is not set by the informal market – like the estimate of The Touch–, but is established by calculating a percentage above the BCC rate, which must authorize it on a daily basis. As of today, that commission is at 7%. The owner maintained in the interview that the dollar per transfer is currently 950 pesos, implying how beneficial his business is. However, there is no evidence that this is the case.
The businessman also declared that there is no limit on the purchase of foreign currency, although there is a limit on the sale. In addition, people must prove the origin and destination of the money to avoid money laundering and fraud. In the case of companies and self-employed workers, company documents are required and “justify the purchase through an offer from a foreign or national supplier that certifies the use of funds.” Information on financial activity is delivered daily to the Central Bank of Cuba.
The Cuban economist living in Spain Pedro Monreal has analyzed the first information about ADT 64. The expert addresses two very different levels, on the one hand he questions the opacity of the operation and the authorization to open the premises. On the other hand, its practical scope.
“Until the detailed rule is published, the authorization of private exchange houses functions more as a discretionary power of the BCC than as a right to which any interested party can aspire under known conditions,” he points out regarding the first issue. Monreal admits that the regulator has not only the power to create this mechanism but, almost, the duty to do so, in order to monitor the situation through a concrete and controlled example to learn and correct the official market.
This does not mean, he emphasizes, that it can operate “without detailed public regulations”, something that “affects the legal certainty, competition, supervision and credibility of the officially announced opening.”
This does not mean, he emphasizes, that it can operate “without detailed public regulations”, something that “affects the legal certainty, competition, supervision and credibility of the officially announced opening.” Discretion will not favor, he adds, the incorporation of other actors, the promotion of competition or the circulation of information.
On the other hand, the economist warns of the practical need for activity to expand if the idea is to build a reference rate. “A diverse and statistically adequate sample is needed: different cities, several owners, both sides of the market—buying and selling—, different scales of clients, and mechanisms to eliminate atypical days and circumstantial inventories,” he warns.
Monreal also considers that the first evidence left by the ADT 64 rate is that the accusations that the regime made for years against The Touch They were wrong, if not malicious. The official discourse even attributed crimes to the founders of the medium, to whom it attributed the intention of look for a social outbreak inflating currency prices, which in turn caused the cost of living to rise. Now, the rate approved by the BCC is even higher than that of the informal market.
“For the BCC, the risk is twofold. On the one hand, the rate of segment III (private actors) could end up getting closer to the ‘street’ rate and lose the current anchor of 1 dollar = 660 pesos. On the other hand, if the central bank ignores the initial data of the pilot and maintains the administered rate, the experiment would remain an expensive and incoherent showcase with the price that the State itself publishes,” he concludes.
