 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cuba has given all small businesses the right to hire staff and is set to loosen other regulations governing private enterprises, the government said in a statement Monday. The measure shows that President Raul Castro's government is loosening its grip on economic sectors that include retail services, construction and transportation in favor of private business. Last year, the government allowed some types of family business and skilled traders to hire workers. The statement said that "the Council of Ministers agreed to extend to all non-state activities authorization to contract workers and continue the process of making more flexible regulations on self employment." The Cuban economy is dominated by the state, which employed about 85 percent of the labor force through 2009. The government announced plans late last year to lay off hundreds of thousands of workers, moving them to the "non-state" sector as an efficiency drive. Following the 1959 revolution, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, now retired, nationalized all small businesses. Self-employment, often a euphemism for small private businesses, was first authorized in 1993, but it was restricted until last year. In September, the government began issuing new licenses, allowed family businesses to rent space outside their homes, sign contracts with the state, hire labor and seek bank credits, among other measures. More than 200,000 new licenses have been granted since October, compared with less than 150,000 that existed previously. Reuters |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
