Minister after minister have delivered the bad news as the import-dependent Communist-run country weathers a fourth year of crisis, scraping by with a minimum of foreign exchange as output plummets. Food production, the supply of phamaceuticals and transportation are down by at least 50% since 2018, the top officials said, and continued to decline this year in large part due to chronic fuel shortages and power outages. "The ministers provided new information revealing just how serious the crisis is and that growth this year is very doubtful," Cuban economist Omar Everleny said. Public transportation, vital in a country where few have vehicles, has also been hobbled by fuel shortages and difficulties in obtaining spare parts. If before the collapse of former benefactor the Soviet Union "there were 2,500 buses operating in Havana ... today there are just 300 compared with 600 four years ago," Transportation Minister Eduardo Rodríguez Davila said.

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Persons: weathers, Omar Everleny, Ydael Jesus Perez, Tania Margarita Cruz, Eduardo Rodríguez Davila, Marc Frank, Sandra Maler Organizations: Senior Cuban, Agriculture, Industry, Thomson Locations: Cuba, Caribbean, Cuban, Soviet Union, Havana .