1/ Our latest: A major monetary reform hiking prices and state wages in #Cuba starting on Friday is sparking widespread uncertainty as the island resumes market-oriented changes to its Soviet-style economy after years of flip-flopping. https://reut.rs/38PSkdd 

2/ Hours-long queues outside shops amid shortages of even the most basic goods have lengthened as some Cubans rush to buy what they can before the measures go into effect, the value of the dollar on the black market has risen and banks have been overwhelmed with queries.

3/ Cuban officials have appeared daily on state television in a bid to explain the changes but there are so many changes to assimilate in one go that people remain puzzled and worried, especially given they are already struggling to get by in a deep economic crisis.

4/ Private businesses and foreign investors also are scrambling to gauge the impact on their operations and whether they can adjust prices to cover rising overheads and wages to keep them competitive vis-a-vis the state.

5/ In an bid to allay panic, the govt says the CUC currency which it is eliminating will be accepted at banks & some stores for another 6 mnths. Yet some places have refused to accept it for a while. On the black market, it now trades at around 1.6 to the $ instead of 1-to-1

6/ Economists consulted by Reuters agree currency reform was long overdue and will help increase transparency in the ailing state-run economy, allowing the government to reduce undue subsidies and increase competitivity in the medium-term if it takes other structural measures too