US Dollar Reaches 900 Cuban Pesos

The US dollar climbed to 900 Cuban pesos on the informal market this Monday, an increase of 10 pesos (1.1%) compared to the previous day. Today’s movement, although significant, is not exceptional when compared with fluctuations over the past three weeks. It is larger than most, but far from being among the sharpest.

What does stand out is the enormous gap between the extremes of the market: while some sellers were offering dollars at 810 pesos, others were asking as much as 1,000 pesos, a difference of 190 pesos that reflects the uncertainty and fragmentation of a market where every transaction is, in practice, an individual negotiation.

The euro recorded a more pronounced jump, closing at 990 pesos, with a daily increase of 20 pesos (2.1%), a sharper movement than usual compared with the previous 20 days. The European currency has risen for eight consecutive trading days and has gained 30 pesos (3.1%) since the end of October, reflecting a pace of peso depreciation against the euro that exceeds even that observed against the dollar.

Asking prices for the Euro ranged from 960 to 1,050 pesos per euro, a spread of 90 pesos that, although substantial, was narrower than that of the dollar. According to analysts at El Toque’s Currency and Finance Observatory, the upward trend in major foreign currencies reflects structural pressures on the peso that are unlikely to reverse in the short term.

The Canadian dollar registered the most striking relative movement among the secondary currencies, rising 15 pesos in a single day to reach 565 pesos (+2.7%), an unusually sharp adjustment by the currency’s recent standards. Despite this rebound, the Canadian dollar remains 5 pesos below its end-of-October level (0.9%), indicating that today’s increase was more of a partial correction following previous declines. Asking prices were concentrated at a single level — 600 pesos — with no variation whatsoever, a sign that very few traders quoted prices for this currency during the day.

This article was translated into English from the original in Spanish.