Cuban Banks Begin Gradual Payment of Foreign Currency Accounts

The Banco Popular de Ahorro (BPA) has initiated a step-by-step process to settle foreign currency accounts that have been frozen for years, with a focus on Cuban doctors serving on international missions, according to a bank official in Sancti Spíritus.

Yeney Ceballo Hernández, head of the Personal Banking Department at BPA in the province, detailed that starting February 2025, a special procedure was implemented for this group: "For us, collaborators are a sensitive and significant segment, receiving special attention. Why? Because they are doctors abroad, many of whom ensure the foreign currency that the country desperately needs."

Among the more than 100 collaborators registered with BPA in Sancti Spíritus, over 77% of pending cases have already been paid.

The remaining 23% have not received payment because they are still abroad and return sporadically, not due to any reluctance from the bank, the official clarified.

The economic rationale behind this priority is that the Cuban government employs over 24,000 health workers across 56 countries, whose missions are the primary source of foreign exchange for the State. However, the regime retains about 85% of the salary paid by host countries to each medical collaborator.

For other clients with blocked accounts, the BPA has established a "list of unmet demands" organized by seniority: as foreign currency comes in through deposits or other means, partial or full payments are made based on availability.

Ceballo Hernández mentioned that nearly all pending transfers from abroad have been addressed: "There was a time when the list of transfers was enormous; we couldn’t even pay 50 pesos. But now, they are being processed, and almost all pending transfers have been resolved."

Another measure to alleviate the situation has been the introduction of a floating rate, allowing clients to convert their foreign currency into Cuban pesos at the current rate. "This floating rate has solved an old problem where people had foreign currency but couldn’t do anything with it," the official explained.

This process unfolds amid a severe foreign currency crisis that Cuba has faced since 2019, worsening between 2023 and 2025. The dollar reached 395 Cuban pesos on the informal market in August 2025, and by May 2026, the official Segment III rate placed the dollar at 498 Cuban pesos.

The Central Bank expedited the implementation of the floating rate from late 2024 as part of a strategy to attract foreign capital, and in March 2026, the regime announced it would allow Cubans residing abroad to open foreign currency accounts in island banks.

The accumulated debt with medical collaborators highlights a structural paradox of the system: the Cuban State relies on the foreign currency generated by these professionals, yet for years denied them access to the money they themselves deposited in accounts frozen due to the dictatorship's financial crisis.