HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Friday announced greater freedoms for small businesses across the country, as the communist government takes steps to liberalise the island’s economy in the face of a crippling United States (US) blockade.

In a speech broadcast on national television, Diaz-Canel said Cuba would open more sectors to private businesses and streamline the approval process for new ventures.

“For non-state forms of management, the list of prohibited activities will be limited so that their scope of operations is as broad as possible,” the president said. “A process is underway… to approve all pending applications in the shortest time possible.”

Under pressure from the oil blockade imposed by Washington in January, the Cuban government has unveiled a series of reforms aimed at opening up the economy.

Private businesses — which can employ up to 100 people — were authorised in 2021 and have become an increasingly important part of Cuba’s economy. Since February, they have been permitted to import fuel, a sector previously controlled exclusively by the state.

As part of the new measures, the government will enable private businesses to invest in the economy on equal terms with foreign investors, after some of them recently left the country amid concerns over US sanctions.

Diaz-Canel said the government was also considering scrapping state intermediaries in import and export operations.

The president reiterated his commitment to decentralising the economy and granting greater autonomy to state-owned enterprises, which account for roughly 80 per cent of economic activity.

He also announced an overhaul of the state bureaucracy that would reduce the number of ministries and trim the state workforce, a plan that requires parliamentary approval in July.

Diaz-Canel assured that the new reforms “will soon be discussed and approved very swiftly.”

He also sought to project confidence despite the country’s mounting economic difficulties.

“The country is not paralysed; the country is facing this situation intelligently,” the president said, denouncing what he described as a “maximum pressure” policy from Washington.

In addition to the oil blockade, the United States has imposed a range of sanctions on Cuba.

The measures have further aggravated the economic, social and energy crises that have gripped the island for years despite its decades-long struggle against a US embargo dating back to 1962.