Cuba’s president calls for range of austerity measures

CUBAN president Raul Castro called over the weekend for austerity measures including fewer subsidies for workers and stricter management to pull the country out of an economic morass aggravated this year by three hurricanes and the global financial crisis.

He told a year-end meeting of the National Assembly that the government would cut official trips abroad by 50% and eliminate programmes that reward good workers with free vacation trips but cost the government $60 million a year.

“The accounts don’t square up. You have to act with realism and adjust the dreams to the true possibilities,” said Castro, who officially replaced his ailing older brother, Fidel Castro, as president in February.