HAVANA, Cuba.- In the first half of 2017 the national Gross Domestic Product grew 1.1 percent, Minister of Economy and Planning Ricardo Cabrisas said in presenting the results to the parliamentary session presided over by President Raul Castro.
The fulfilment of several important measures to respect the plan allowed mitigating the unfavorable effect of lack of foreign exchange and low availability of fuel, the Vice-President of the Council of Ministers added.
The areas with a positive effect on the results of these first six months are tourism, construction, transport and communications, and agriculture.
The economic report to Parliament makes it possible to anticipate that the main activities, even in difficult circumstances, will sustain their results at the end of this year.
Other Results
Minister Cabrisas reported that in the first semester, some 206 million dollars have been paid to fulfill the country’s commitments, with priority for the negotiated debt, the food bill, sugar cane harvest and new shipments of merchandise.
The head of Economy and Planning advanced they are working on the updating of the business portfolio, which will be made public at the next Havana Fair with more than 450 projects in several sectors.
The report notes drought is present throughout the country, aggravated in Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara and Camagüey provinces, and even if some improvement is produced due the last rains, a strict control of that resource is necessary.
There is one semester left and we have to work to minimize the affectations to fulfill the approved plan, Cabrisas said before the plenary of the National Assembly.
Parliament Passes Terrestrial Water Law
The Cuban deputies approved this Friday the law on Terrestrial Waters, at the ninth regular session of the National Assembly of People´s Power in its eighth legislature.
The President of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, Ines Maria Chapman, stressed this provision aims to order the integrated and sustainable management of terrestrial waters, based on their planning, preservation and sustainability.
She pointed out that after dissimilar recommendations and opinions the law was modified in approximately 37.7 percent, and they added a transitory disposition and a glossary of terms.
Chapman remarked that the law on Terrestrial Waters is registered in the strategy of protection and sustainability of environment impelled by the Cuban government.