Cuba Opens Untried Currency Exchange House for Yens, Bolivars and Mexican Pesos

Cuba has just opened an experimental currency exchange house to swap euros, Japanese yens, Venezuelan bolivars and Mexican pesos for convertible Cuban pesos (CUC).

The action is part of a plan implemented by local authorities in an effort to knock the U.S. dollar out of circulation in the national territory and leave the CUC as the only one currency used to purchase goods and services on the island nation.

The experimental currency exchange house, located in Old Havana, will also accept euros, Swiss francs, British pounds and Canadian dollars without the ten percent surcharge being levied on the greenback since November 15.

Since October 28, Cubans have been flocking to exchange houses and other similar outlets that total 1,600 in all across the country to change their bucks into CUCs without paying the 10 percent surcharge that went into effect Monday.

Other people who receive money remittances from overseas have opened saving accounts in different banks in order to remove cash in either CUCs or U.S. dollars without having to defray any surcharge whatsoever.

Tourists traveling to the country may change their currencies into CUCs and swap them back into their currency of choice before leaving the national territory.

The Central Bank of Cuba informed that 22 of the 23 international airlines currently flying to the island nation have confirmed the use of CUCs in their own operations, including the sale of plane tickets.

In the same breath, foreign investors stationed on the island have accepted the use of CUCs. “Acceptance has been simply extraordinary,” said the BBC president. “That’s a token of confidence in the Cuban government, in the country and in its institutions.”