Just 17 days ago, the U.S. currency reached 800 CUP and was trading at 435 at the beginning of January.
14ymedio, Madrid, November 2, 2026 – The dollar reached 900 pesos on the informal currency market in the early hours of November 2, according to the real-time tracking carried out by the media outlet El Toque. Although Monday’s daily chart still places the U.S. currency at 890 CUP [Cuban peso], the rate of 900, reached at 5:16 a.m., could become established if the trend continues throughout the day.
The currency’s movement has been very rapid over the past week. Just seven days ago, the dollar was worth 840 CUP on the informal market and rose by five each day until, from Thursday to Friday, it rose by ten CUP. On Saturday, the jump was even greater, from 865 to 880 in just 24 hours, and this Sunday it rose another 10 CUP. Furthermore, it is worth remembering that only half a month has passed since the previous round number was reached on October 15, when the U.S. currency hit 800 CUP.
Only half a month has passed since the previous round number was reached on October 15, when the U.S. currency hit 800 CUP
The gap with the official rate has once again become significant. This Monday, the Central Bank of Cuba is maintaining the dollar at 768 CUP for what is known as Segment 3, the floating exchange rate introduced by the Government at the end of 2025 to “organize the economy and move toward a future monetary unification.” At that time, the financial authorities had two rates. On the one hand, the first segment, at 1×24, applied to centralized state allocations for goods and services considered essential, such as fuel, medicines, electricity, public transportation, and the basic food basket. On the other hand, the second, at 1×120, applied to entities capable of generating foreign currency, particularly the tourism sector.
With this third rate, known as the floating rate and intended for individuals and non-state forms of economic management, the aim was to better reflect reality at a time when the exchange rate on the informal market stood at 440 CUP per dollar and the BCC started with a relatively close rate of 410. But in less than a year, the dollar has risen by 119.5%.
The rapid depreciation of the national currency is also evident in the euro, whose price is on the verge of reaching 1,000 CUP. This morning, the European currency reached 990 after rising by 20 in a single day. Although the euro is used less than the dollar in daily transactions by the population and private businesses, it has a significant following because it is in high demand for procedures at the consulates of countries that are particularly important in this regard, such as Spain. Furthermore, the Cuban exile community in that country now accounts for nearly 10% of all migrants from the Island, so many remittances also arrive in this currency. The official euro exchange rate stands at 856.6, according to the BCC website.
The rapid depreciation of the national currency is also evident in the euro, whose price is on the verge of reaching 1,000 CUP
The creation of private currency exchange offices has also failed to stem the decline of the CUP. The first and for now the only one whose existence has come to light is ADT 64, located in Santa Clara. It opened in late August and became known in mid-September. The micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise began buying U.S. currency at 710 CUP and selling it at 730, while the State’s rate that day was 664 and El Toque’s was 700 CUP.
At the time, economist Pedro Monreal warned that the lack of transparency
surrounding the start of this “experiment,” which was supposed to be extended throughout the country, was one of its many drawbacks, along with the absence of regulations and information about how prices were determined. “For the BCC, the risk is twofold. On the one hand, the Segment III rate (private actors) could end up moving closer to the rate on ‘the street’ and lose its current anchor of 1 dollar = 660 CUP.
On the other hand, if the central bank ignores the pilot program’s initial data and maintains the administered rate, the experiment would become an expensive showcase that is inconsistent with the exchange rate published by the State itself,” he said. It has taken very little time for his warning to prove correct. And the U.S. dollar’s rise is on an unstoppable course toward 1,000 CUP, something unthinkable just a few months ago.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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