Cuba revalues peso against dollar

The Cuban Central Bank increased the value of the peso against the US dollar by seven percent, the first movement in the exchange rate since it was frozen in 2001 after falling 21 percent. Cuban President Fidel Castro announced the revaluation to 24/25 (buy/sell) from 26/27 in a televised speech on Thursday evening. Castro said the measure was just a first step in the revaluation of the local currency and state-paid wages.
Castro has waxed increasingly optimistic about Cuba's bankrupt economy since a local scrip, the convertible peso, replaced the dollar in circulation last November and foreign exchange revenues and spending were centralised under the central bank in January.