Havana, December 2 (RHC)-- "2023 has to be a better year; we have all the bases, in addition to the conviction, that it can be a better year," according to the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, speaking at the most recent meeting of the Council of Ministers, in which the main aspects of the National Economy Plan and the State Budget for next year were presented.

What we have lived through in these last three years and what we have surpassed in these three years, the Head of State stressed, is a "heroic deed that the Cuban Revolution has done for the heroic people it has".

At the meeting of Cuba's highest governing body - led by Political Bureau member and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz - President Díaz-Canel recalled how, amid the circumstances of the intensification of the blockade imposed by the U.S. government and its smear campaigns, "having defeated the pandemic has made it possible to return to normality," at a time when many countries in the world have not been able to do so.

Particularly regarding the current year, he commented that "it has been intense" and although several economic measures have been implemented, "not all of them will have an immediate impact, because they are complex and also because they need to overcome the inertia of the processes".

The next year has to be better, the dignitary evaluated, based on the fact that "we all work intensely, and we all get the people to join this work with the example of the cadres". It has to be a year -he stressed- of intense and intelligent work, crushing bureaucracy, crushing obstacles, crushing immobility, crushing waiting and, of course, continuing the fight against corruption and illegalities based on the measures adopted.

Likewise, he insisted on the importance of making 2023 a year in which "innovation is present in everything we do, and that it generates results". In this regard, he highlighted work priorities such as food production with more efficiency, applying agroecology and science as much as possible. "We have to plant more and we have to produce more food to import less, because food prices in the world are very high," he emphasized.

He also called attention to the need to "achieve the stability of the National Electric Power System", for which financing has been sought to enable repairs and maintenance and to conclude the month of December in a better situation, in order to continue advancing in a group of investments that are planned.

He considered it essential to increase exports in different areas; to promote foreign direct investment, especially in aspects that "produce growth, exports and improve the living conditions of the population", as well as to promote tourism and local development.

The President of the Republic also insisted that work must be done in 2023 to reduce the budget deficit and improve the application of our tax system; to continue to reduce social inequalities and to make progress in the implementation of our tax system.

social inequalities and make progress in the legislative exercise that the country has proposed.

There is a lot to work on, and we have the potential and possibilities to do so; we must work in an intelligent, committed and agile manner, seeking efficiency, effectiveness and efficiency in everything we do, the Cuban leader said.