The Caribbean nation of 9.7 million is experiencing its worst economic crisis in 30 years, marked by shortages of food and fuel, recurring blackouts and a critical shortage of hard currency.

The latest, and perhaps most significant step towards modernising the country’s economy has been the announcement last month that Cuba would be doing away with it’s complicated dual currency system.

The Cuban convertible peso or "chavitos" are equivalent to one US dollar. However the "convertible" description of the new currency is questioned since it's only accepted in Cuba although it ...