Is it farewell to the ration book?

From Havana

Is it farewell to the ration book?

By Manuel Alberto Ramy

Throughout the island, the rumors are running faster than a Formula One racer. The disappearance of the ration book and the appearance of a single currency compete for the first place. The rumors always come with the inevitable attribution of “a reliable source told me.” At this moment, the ration book, created on March 13, 1962, seems to be leading the competition.

“Now, potatoes and peas are freely available but at higher prices,” says Juana Hernández, 68, a retiree.

True, both products were recently removed from the ration book. Now they are sold on the open market. The peas at 3.50 Cuban pesos a pound (when rationed, they cost 16 cents a pound), and the potatoes at 1 Cuban peso a pound (while on the book, they cost between 30 and 40 cents a pound.)

“They say rice will also have to be bought in the open … you know,” adds Juana. “With my 200-plus-peso [pension], I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll have to be more creative.”

More creative, I ask. Yes, she answers, “because many things have to be purchased in convertible pesos,” in CUCs. She recites a list of products that includes soap, toilet paper, and cooking oil, “because the oil they sell through the [ration] book doesn’t last the whole  month.”

Like Juana, there are tens of thousands of Cubans disquieted by the threat posed by the disappearance of the document officially known as the supply book, whose products and amounts last only 12 days or so, which provides 32 percent of the daily kilocalories, which costs the economy US$948 million and 30 percent of which is subsidized, according to the Minister of the Economy, Marino Murillo, in a speech at the University of Havana on Oct. 23.

Subsidies, unnecessary expenditures, a reduction and rationality in the investments are some of the measures the government has adopted in recent months, now that the Cuban economy is in the grip of the worldwide and domestic economic crises. The domestic crisis is characterized by low productivity and a great lack of liquidity in hard currency. There is a need to make structural reforms.

During 2007-08, there was a slowdown in the pace of economic growth and everything indicates that the slowdown will be more significant this year. So much so, that this year’s economic plan had to be readjusted in terms of trims in important items. The result? According to the most optimistic estimates, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow, at most, 1.2 percent. According to the pessimists, it will roll back by -9 percent. Both figures mean trouble for the well-being of most of the population.

The rumor first got started when the authorities mentioned the ration book’s possible disappearance as part of a normalization process. However, given the imbalance between the nominal wage (which according to economist Pavel Vidal was 414 Cuban pesos in 2008) and the actual wage (45 pesos), this event should not mean the elimination of the subsidies associated with the ration book but only a change in the form in which the subsidies are assigned.

I think – I’m speculating – that on more than one occasion, the academic world and the authorities must have agreed that the system of rationed distribution of foodstuffs long ago stopped serving the function it had at the moment of its creation. Why do I say this?

1.  Currently, it subsidizes those who need it and those who don’t. Thus it does not achieve the effect of equality that was initially intended and which it reached in the initial stage of its creation. Besides, that form of distribution does not spur an increase in productivity. Moreover, there are people who take advantage of it and “solve” the rest of their needs by “inventing,” a word that includes all kinds of black-market operations and feeds on the resources of the state.

2.  As a form of distribution, it does not offer alternatives to the consumer, who is forced to buy his food in a fixed place and has no choice as to what to buy because the variety of products is extremely limited.

3.  The current quantities and variety (see Chart No. 1) are very different from the quantity and variety of products that were initially offered in the ration book at the time it came out, on March 13, 1962 (see Chart No. 2).

4. If the products distributed through the ration book only last for 10-12 days each month, it is easy to deduce that the book is not a determining source for a person’s total consumption of food.

In view of the economic shortages afflicting the country, perhaps the best thing to do would be not to continue to subsidize products but to furnish them directly to the families with the lowest income. That way, the elimination of the ration book would lead to an increase in the per-capita fund of assigned subsidy.

I believe that we must eliminate the ration book, but not abruptly. And we mustn’t do it by raising the prices of the products being removed from it, like the peas, whose price increased 22 times, and the potatoes (3.3 times), because we cannot ignore the wide gap between the nominal wage and the real wage.

The final answer to the quandary inevitably will come from the creation of a new socialist model of the economy that will transform the relation between production and productivity, increasing both in such a way that the offer will also increase and foster a reduction in the prices to the consumer.

In sum, major changes must be made, either at the start or at the end.

Chart No. 1 – Monthly quota of food per person, under the rationing system (ration book) in 2009.

Product	U.M.	Monthly quota per person
Black or red beans	oz.	10
Rice (@ 25 cents/pound)	lb.	5
Rice (@ 90 cents/pound)	lb.	2
Pasta	grams	500
Vegetable oil	lb.	0.5
White sugar	lb.	3
Brown (raw) sugar	lb.	2
Poultry	lb.	1
Fish	oz.	11
Picadillo (ground beef)	lb.	0.5
Eggs (@ 15 cents)	unit	5
Eggs (@ 90 cents)	unit	5
Bread (80-gram loaf)	unit	30
Salt	grams	174
Coffee (a 5-peso bag weighing 4 ounces)	oz.	4

Source: Taken directly from the distribution table at the retail stores run by the MINCIN in June 2009.

Chart No. 2 – List of products rationed as of March 13, 1962

Product	U.M.	Amount per person	Frequency
In the national territory
Comestible fats, oil or pork lard	lb.	2	monthly
Rice	lb.	6	monthly
Beans, any kind	lb.	13½	In the next 9 months, distributed monthly
Regulated in Greater Havana (municipalities)* and other cities**
Bar of laundry soap	unit	1	monthly
Bar of bath soap	unit	1	monthly
Detergent, midsize box***	unit	1	monthly
Toothpaste, large tube, for two people****	unit	1	monthly
Items regulated exclusively for Greater Havana
Beef	lb.	3/4	weekly
Poultry	lb.	2	monthly
Fish fillets	lb.	1/2	every 15 days
Eggs	unit	5	monthly
Milk (per child under the age of 7)	liter	1	daily
Milk (for 5 persons over the age of 7) *****	liter	1	daily
Orchard greens, fruit	lb.	3½	weekly
Additional malanga for each child under 7	lb.	2	weekly
Butter	lb.	1/2	monthly

* Municipalities of Guanabacoa, Regla, Marianao, Santiago de las Vegas and Santa María del Rosario.

** Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, San Antonio de los Baños, Bauta, Guines, Cárdenas, Matanzas, Colón, Santa Clara, Sagua La Grande, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus, Caibarién, Trinidad, Camagüey, Ciego de Ávila, Florida, Morón, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Victoria de las Tunas, Bayazo, Manzanillo, Guantánamo and Palma Soriano.

*** or one large-size box for 2 persons per month.

**** or one giant-size tube for 4 persons per month.

***** or the equivalent of 6 cans of condensed or evaporated milk per month.

 

Source: The newspaper Revolución, March 13, 1962, National Board for the Distribution of Supplies.

 

Manuel Alberto Ramy is the Havana correspondent for Radio Progreso Alternativa and editor of Progreso Semanal, the Spanish-language version of Progreso Weekly.