Havana, Nov 10 (EFE) The weekly publication of Cuba’s only legal labour union says residents of the communist-ruled island will have to get used to belt-tightening “with intelligence” amid a severe recession and little prospect of improvement in the short term.
Cuba is struggling to cope with the effects of the global slump at a time when it has yet to recover from the $10 billion in losses left by three hurricanes in 2008, Trabajadores said in an editorial Monday.

“Let us tighten our belts, but with intelligence: that is the alternative,” the union weekly said.

The editorial also warned of “inevitable restrictions and cutbacks in every sector” as a result of tough financial straits aggravated by the costs of dealing with the swine flu outbreak.

Cuba is suffering one of its worst economic crises since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in January 1959.

The world economic slump has squeezed Cuba’s two main sources of hard currency: nickel exports and tourism, while Cuban families have experienced a decline in remittances from relatives in the US.

As of January, imports were outpacing exports 5-1, and the volume of foreign trade has fallen 36 percent compared with last year.

The Cuban government is now forecasting an economic expansion of only 1.7 percent in 2009. Official statistics show growth in gross domestic product fell from 12.5 percent in 2007 to 4.3 percent last year.

President Raul Castro said earlier this year that the “maximum priority” is increasing domestic agricultural production.