HAVANA (AFP) - Cuba said that US dollars will not be accepted in stores on the island starting November 8, marking a sharp change in the island's financial policies in response to what the government called hostile US policies toward the communist-ruled country.
The Cuban Central Bank statement was read over national television with Cuban leader Fidel Castro on hand, making his first public appearance since undergoing surgery for his knee after a fall last week.
The new restrictions allow Cuban citizens to continue to possess a certain amount of US dollars, but using them in commercial transactions or in retail will be banned, the statement said.
Starting November 8, Cubans will have to rely on the so-called "convertible peso," a local currency that can be used in specialized stores on the island but has no value internationally.
Other foreign currencies will still be accepted in the country.
"It is important to denounce the schemes of the (American) empire" against Cuba, Castro said in televised remarks, slamming the four-decade US embargo on the island.
The new measure was adopted in response to tighter US sanctions announced by the administration of President George W. Bush last June that limit money transfers to Cuban citizens from relatives in the United States as well as family visits to the island.
The United States has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba for 43 years.
Free circulation of the dollar was allowed in Cuba in 1993 as part of economic reforms designed to soften the impact on Cuba of the collapse of the Soviet Union, its key supporter during the Cold War.
10/26/2004 - 00:42 GMT - AFP