CUBA: Parliament to Study New Citizenship and Mining Laws
HAVANA, Nov 23 (IPS) - The Cuban Parliament will study a new citizenship law in its upcoming second ordinary period, as well as a mining bill to replace the outdated century-old law currently in effect.
On Wednesday the president of the National Assembly of Popular Power, Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, called the second period which will begin to meet on Dec. 20.
Although the content of the agenda was not officially revealed, comments by deputies indicate that six draft bills could be analysed.
The citizenship draft bill has already been analysed by the permanent parliamentary commissions on international relations and constitutional and legal affairs, and is currently in its fifth version.
The draft bill which up to now has received the broadest publicity is the mining law, which according to the local press will serve to stimulate foreign investment in joint ventures with the Cuban government in one of the sectors which has so far received the largest injections of foreign capital.
Aside from the areas of nickel and petroleum where several foreign firms are already operating, over 30 contracts with predominantly Canadian and European firms have been signed in solid mining (gold, copper and others).
Another bill which could be approved by the deputies in December is that of defence, which has been studied by a number of sectors and is currently in its 22nd form.
A bill on the organisation and functions of the National Assembly will also be discussed.
Finance Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez is expected to release a report on the progress of measures approved in May by Parliament to restructure the country's finances.
In a recent interview published in the state-run daily 'Granma', Rodriguez said the circulating currency surplus - a serious problem in Cuba - had dropped from 11.89 billion pesos (on par with the dollar at the official exchange rate) in May to 10.26 billion in October.
The minister calculated that by year's-end some 400 million additional pesos will be withdrawn - or in other words, a total of two billion pesos in the seven months since the measures were implemented.
Meanwhile, the budget deficit also dropped in 1994 with respect to 1993: from 5,05 billion pesos to some 3.25 billion expected for December.
A further reduction of 1.6 billion pesos is expected in the 1995 deficit, also to be discussed by the deputies when they approve next year's budget law, the final point on the parliamentary agenda.
© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service