HAVANA, October 23 (Juan Carlos Linares / CubaNet) - Thousands of depositors
are closing their accounts in Cuban banks and withdrawing their
dollar-denominated savings, said one bank worker who would not be identified.
"Last week, I closed hundreds of accounts in convertible currency.
There were days when the bank almost ran out of cash," said a cashier at
the Banco Popular de Ahorro (Popular Savings Bank) at the corner of Calzada de
Diez de Octubre and Lacret Street.
An employee of the Cuban National Bank confirmed that in the last few days
more customers are withdrawing funds than are depositing. "It's as if
people had stopped trusting banks," he said.
The man said the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the war against
Afghanistan have had an impact on the Cuban economy, since there have been fewer
tourists and less remittance money coming in. He said, "If the situation
continues, the Cuban government would have to adopt drastic measures, and one
such could be imposing a limitation on the amount of money that can be withdrawn
from bank accounts."
He added that another widely-expected development is for money withdrawn
from savings accounts to be paid in convertible Cuban pesos instead of in
dollars.
The peso has gone down to 25 to the dollar in the last few weeks.
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