Around the World: Cuba Has a Coinage Problem
Cuba’s currency crisis is worsening, with coin shortages, inflation, and distrust in the banking system fueling talk of high-denomination coins — but will it solve the problem?
Over the years, Cuba has tried several “creative” innovations to raise the exchange value of its currency. Among these are the “Visitor’s Coinage” and the convertible peso.
The current shortage of small change, coupled with inflation and a lack of currency convertibility, once again prompts Cuba to become creative with its money. The June 26, 2025, online news site CiberCuba quoted a woman as saying, “You go to a store, buy something, and if there’s leftover money, instead of giving you coins, they give you a couple of candies, as if that solves anything.”
The Cuban government insists that electronic payment systems can resolve the small change shortage. In 2021, the government implemented its “economic and monetary ordering” system, which unified its dual currency system, adjusted prices, and eliminated “excessive [state] subsidies and undue gratuities” through changes in salaries, pensions, and social assistance benefits. The net result was a higher exchange rate for the peso, which triggered inflation and made dollars unavailable at the Currency Exchange Houses.
The currency system that resulted from this change was intended to eliminate the convertible peso (CUC) and unify it with the Cuban peso (CUP). While the convertible peso had been equal to the U.S. dollar, the system introduced in 2021 established a value of 24 CUP per CUC.
What’s been appearing on social media suggests the public isn’t buying the ordering system as a solution. The bottom line is that there is a shortage of change in U.S. dollars. The official inflation rate was 16.43% in May, down from 24.23% in January. U.S. dollars are preferred over Cuban pesos, if you can find them.
Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud newspaper, Victoria, recently mentioned the possibility of introducing a 10,000-peso coin. According to a June 13, 2025, statement by DirectorioCubano.info, a 10-peso coin may soon be issued. The official press release calls for using high-denomination metal coins to alleviate the cash shortage in banks.
Cuba’s current currency system consists of 5-centavos, 10-centavos, 25-centavos, and 50-centavos, as well as 1-peso and 5-peso coins, and bank notes in denominations of 1-peso, 3-pesos, 5-pesos, 10-pesos, 20-pesos, 50-pesos, and 100-pesos. The Cuban peso is currently valued at about 4¢.
The Victoria article reasons, “I propose that the actions of those who violate the treasury and hinder the flow of money by worsening the economic stagnation be legalized? Never. I seek to improve the situation for the vast majority, for the average Cuban…so that, while we await the solution that will resolve the issue, there is more cash available in the banks. And in bank notes that ATMs can dispense.”
This ignores inflation, the collapse of the exchange rate for the peso, the distrust of the banking system, and what appears to be a systematic decline in operable ATMs as being involved in the overall problem. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel blamed self-employed workers for withdrawing too much cash from ATMs.
Economic data published in October 2024 indicates that 39% of retirees receive the minimum 1,528 CUP pension monthly. A kilogram of powdered milk was recently priced as high as 1,800 CUP.
Due to the lack of convertibility of the Cuban peso to hard currency between 1988 and 1989, the Instituto Nacional de Turismo issued “Visitors’ Coinage” consisting of special 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos with 1-, 5-, 10-, 25-, and 50-peso “INTUR” coins dated between 1981 and 1989. Tourists and other foreigners were required to exchange their hard currency for the “INTUR” coins, then convert any remaining coins back to their original hard currency upon departure. This gave the Cuban government access to its hard currency during the interim period.
The “INTUR” coins were demonetized in 2001 and replaced by the convertible peso (CUC) system. CUC coins in denominations of 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos and 1 peso were introduced in 1994. A ringed bimetal 5-peso coin was introduced in 1999, followed by a 1-centavos coin a year later. The CUC currency is officially pegged to the U.S. dollar but is not commonly used in circulation.
According to Javeriana University economist Pavel Vidal, “The government continues to issue money without having the dollars to back it up.”
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