Fuel prices to soar 500 per cent in Cuba as economic pain worsens

Cubans will face a 500 per cent surge in the fuel price from February, the biggest single increase on the island in decades, Abc.net reported. 

The cost of a litre of regular petrol will rise from 25 pesos (29 cents) to 132 pesos ($1.53), while the price of premium will jump from 30 to 156 pesos, the government said.

Australia's national average last week was $1.85 a litre, according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum.

To buy 10 litres of fuel for his motorbike, enough for a week, building guard Domingo Wong said he would now have to fork over half his monthly salary of about $31.

"Ten litres is what I use in a week without doing anything special, just the daily: going to work, bringing my daughter to school, visiting my sister," he said.

The average Cuban salary is the equivalent of about $60 per month.

The communist-run government says the February 1 price rise is necessary to control deficit spending and raise funds for imports of food, medicine and critically — more fuel.