Havana, December 11 (RHC)-- Cuba will maintain from January 1, 2021, the subsidies to specific products and services, although it will eliminate others as part of the process of monetary order, official sources indicated on Friday.

"The initial intention was to discard all financial support from day one, but we realized that it was not yet possible to do so and we proposed to go gradually," said the head of the Commission for the Implementation of the Guidelines of the Communist Party of Cuba, Marino Murillo.

He assured that people would be protected and not products from now on. There will later be a more in-depth analysis to determine, according to each family's income, who needs help to acquire the necessary products.

Even with the incremental approach, a group of essential subsidies valued at some 30 billion pesos remains, he announced.

Some of the products that the government will subsidize are those destined for children from zero to six years of age, explained the official in the TV program Mesa Redonda.

Besides, he said, the diets of pregnant women, milk, and meat for others in need, air transportation, and medicines associated with chronic and permanent diseases such as diabetes will remain with the state budget's support.

Regarding the electricity service in the residential sector, he pointed out that although its price will increase, a partial subsidy will remain, representing more than half of the total funds allocated for that purpose.

With a sliding scale, where it can cost from 40 cents to 25 pesos per kilowatt/hour depending on the level of consumption, the price of electricity will rise but will be supported by increased income, Murillo warned.

During his statement, he reiterated that even when a steady increase in the value of goods and services occurs, this will be in proportion to the rise in salaries, pensions, and social security.