Investing.com -- Cuba's Communist Party central committee approved 176 market-liberalization measures on Wednesday covering 23 economic sectors as the country attempts to address its struggling economy amid US sanctions.
The National Assembly was scheduled to ratify the measures on Thursday, according to state-run newspaper Granma. President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced the reforms last week, which affect sectors including energy, agriculture and foreign trade.
Among the approved measures are:
President Díaz-Canel said Wednesday the reforms have the support of Raúl Castro, the 95-year-old revolutionary leader. "Reality imposes urgent and necessary changes on us," Díaz-Canel said. "And when the life of the people becomes so hard, the first duty of the Communist Party and the revolutionary government is not to better explain the crisis, but to change what needs to be changed to get out of it."
The president attributed Cuba's economic problems to the US embargo and sanctions.