Cuba to Get Rid of The CUC Convertible Peso
In 2014 Cuba announced that it was doing away with its dual currency system. Gone would be the days that state workers were paid in Moneda Nacional, while the harder CUC currency (pegged to the US dollar) was used to buy most hard goods and food from supermarkets. The two currencies were set to merge into one. The only problem is, the government did not announce a timeline for the unification or any details. People were left to wonder if their currency would be devalued.
It was generally accepted that the CUC would be eliminated, while the Moneda Nacional would be the only remaining Cuban currency. That caused many people to liquidate their CUC holdings and buy Moneda Nacional. Naturally enough, this cause a Moneda Nacional shortage.
Cubans Rushing to Buy Moneda Nacional currency
Left with no other options, and a persistent lack of information from the government, people then started placing their savings in foreign currencies like the USD, Canadian Dollar, and Euros. This is now putting a strain on the government holdings of these currencies.
It’s not a great situation. Despite the problems, this will not impact any foreigners travelling to Cuba. For now, you can simply buy currency (either Moneda Nacional) or CUC, at a local CADECA exchange office, and purchase good or services with that. The only point to remember is to not bring home too much of this currency after your trip is over. You do not want to be stuck with hundreds of dollars of devalued Cuban currency. And since there is no foreign exchange possibilities for Cuban currency outside of Cuba, you will have no way of transferring this money back to your own currency (without going back to Cuba).
