In the execution of the State Budget, Cuba intends to gradually reduce the fiscal deficit and, at the same time, maintain the principles of equity and social justice, said the Minister of Finance and Prices, Meisi Bolaños Weiss, in the television program Mesa Redonda.
It is a matter, she said, in which the process of information of the premises and indicators of this Budget will be accompanied by consultations with the workers, through assemblies in labor collectives, with a schedule set in motion as from January 16.
The main expenses that ensure the sustainability of basic social services and the attention to situations of vulnerability, both in the communities and in the people, will be financed with priority, he said.
"We are betting on all this without applying shock therapies, without resorting to layoffs in the budget sector; always reviewing where we can make better use of that workforce, as well as the quality of services."
One of the main challenges is to capture more income to the Budget, based on diversifying sources and boosting production with greater efficiency.
After stating that the State Budget also has a direct impact on the reduction of inequalities, he reaffirmed that the main expenditures of the Budget are concentrated in the social sector, with 72% of the projected amount.
The latter, he said, translates into more than 251 billion pesos. Its growth is due, for example, to the financing of monetary benefits to Social Security.
He commented on the transfers made to the business sector to maintain centralized prices, which do not affect the population in electricity, liquefied gas and water supply.
There are also other budgets to encourage agricultural production, such as coffee and sugar cane.
He also referred to investment expenditures, related, among others, to the construction of housing by the State, the hydraulic program and science and innovation.