Cuba delays Feb. 1 fuel price hike, cites cyberattack

Cuba in late December announced a series of measures, including hikes in fuel and public transport prices, to narrow a yawning deficit.

Cuba put off a five-fold increase in gasoline prices planned for Feb. 1 due to a cyberattack, Economy Vice Minister Mildrey Granadillo said on Wednesday, a sudden about-face just hours before the controversial hike was due to take effect.

"This decision is influenced by the occurrence of a cybersecurity incident in the computer systems for the marketing of fuels, the origin of which has been identified as a virus from abroad," Granadillo said in the final minutes of the midday newscast on state-run TV. Cuba in late December announced a series of measures, including hikes in fuel and public transport prices, to narrow a yawning deficit. Critics have described the measures inflationary, ill-timed and lacking incentives for domestic production.

Granadillo reiterated the government's rationale, calling the price hikes a "necessity" to help reverse a festering economic crisis. Fuel will remain at current prices, he noted. "There will not be a stoppage in the services we provide for the sale of fuel to our population."