Cuban Assets Abroad Fall
HAVANA TIMES — Cuban bank assets deposited in foreign banks showed a surprising decline of 24% in the last months of 2011, reports the El Nuevo Herald.
According to a report by the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, the assets of the island, which last September had reached $ 5,649,000, surprisingly plummeted by 24% ($ 4,109,000) in late December 2011.
This is an unusual massive withdrawal of funds in hard currency by the Central Bank and other banks from the island, while its bank debt associated with the BIS remained at about $ 1,700 million, says the note.
Analysts attribute this reduction to the import of consumer goods and capital, to pay debts, or the transfer of funds from partner institutions to the Bank of International Settlements to transfer them to others who don’t report to the international entity.
Of course, as the funds would not have been held in USD, part of the drop may have been exchange movements – for example if the funds were in something like euros.