Castro optmistic about market reforms

on 14/12/2012 08:53:39

Cuban president Raul Castro said a two-year experiment with market reforms is working and has the wind at its back, but added much work remains to breathe life into the sputtering economy.

In a speech devoid of any new policy announcements, the military khaki-clad leader sounded a generally positive tone in discussing the Marxist country's progress, although he conceded that the island faces a "colossal psychological barrier" in shedding old habits and "concepts of the past".

"The updating of the Cuban economic model … marches with a sure step and is beginning to delve into questions of greater reach, complexity and depth," Mr Castro told MPs at the second of their twice-annual sessions.