Cuba's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow 2.7 percent in 2011, falling short of the previous forecast of 3 percent, while a 3.4 percent growth is expected next year, Minister of Economy and Planning Abdel Yzquierdo said Friday.
The minister attributed the country's missing its growth rate target to "the non-fulfillment of construction and investment plans, and the increase of prices for food and raw materials in the world market."
Yet the official said the growth is still "favorable" and corresponds with the country's efforts to overcome the difficulties inflicted by the global crisis, the U.S. economic blockade and domestic obstacles.
Yzquierdo announced the figures at the Eighth Ordinary Session of the Seventh Legislature of the National Assembly of People's Power (Parliament), which was attended by Cuban leader Raul Castro and 600 parliamentarians to discuss next year's budget and fiscal plans./.