Cuba’s Informal Dollar Rate Hits 745 Pesos: What Expats Need to Know

Updated 1 times · Latest: 29 September 2026

Cuba’s informal dollar rate keeps setting records — 730 pesos on Saturday morning by elTOQUE’s tracker, 740 by Sunday night on CiberCuba’s index, and a fresh elTOQUE record of 745 by Tuesday morning. Behind the number is a state salary worth less than US$10 a month, and a government arguing at the UN that sanctions, not its reforms, are the brake.

The Week the Informal Rate Hit 745

On Saturday morning, elTOQUE’s tracker, the reference most Cubans actually use, put the informal dollar at 730 Cuban pesos, while CiberCuba’s own index read 733 on Saturday and 740 by Sunday night. The euro reached a record 840 pesos. By Tuesday morning elTOQUE’s tracker marked a new record of 745 pesos, with the MLC at 476.47. The state’s own floating rate, introduced to formalize the market, stood near 678 on Friday — close enough to show the direction, far enough to leave the informal market setting real prices. The MLC, the currency of state shops, traded at 474.95 on the Saturday-morning reading.

The year’s arc puts the week in context: in early January the informal dollar cost about 460 pesos. The climb from about 460 to 730 means the dollar’s informal price is up roughly 59 percent in nine months — a steady depreciation of the peso, not a single shock, which is how currency crises usually look from inside a country.

Two Rates, One Economy

Cuba runs on parallel prices. The state’s official float governs banks and formal channels; the informal market governs daily life — private restaurants, taxis, rent, and most goods that matter. At Tuesday’s 745 informal, a state salary of 6,930 pesos is worth about US$9.30 a month; a US$100 note buys about 74,500 pesos. The gap between the two rates, about 7 percent on Friday’s numbers, is itself a measure of stress: when trust in the official channel rises, the gap narrows.

The government’s response has been to attack the messenger. Granma, the Communist Party daily, accuses elTOQUE of manipulating the rate — an accusation the tracker rejects, and one that does not change what a taxi costs.

What the Government Says

At the UN General Assembly on Friday, Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío told Bloomberg TV that US sanctions are holding back Cuba’s reforms — and that easing them would make the opening to private business “truly irreversible.” Parliament approved 176 private-sector measures in June 2026; the government’s argument is that reform is real but cannot outrun the embargo’s pressure on fuel, finance and tourism. The counterargument, voiced in Washington by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is that the system itself is the obstacle. Both positions are on the record; neither has moved this week.

What It Means for Expats and Visitors

Practical rules first. Bring cash, US dollars or euros, because card acceptance is patchy and US-issued cards do not work. Exchange enough for daily life at the rate of the day: prices in the private economy move with the informal rate, so a café that cost 7,300 pesos at 730 will not hold that price if the rate moves. Power cuts and fuel shortages continue across the island; plan transport and connectivity with slack. For anyone sending money to family, the informal rate is what the remittance is actually worth on the street — about 74,500 pesos per US$100 this week.

What to Watch

Three tracks: the informal rate itself through the week (elTOQUE publishes daily); the official float, and whether it narrows the 7 percent gap; and Washington, where any movement on sanctions would land first on fuel and finance. None moves fast, and none should be read as a verdict on Cuba’s direction on a single day — the peso’s slide is a nine-month trend, and trends turn slowly. For the regional money picture, see our daily guide for Tuesday 29 September.

What We Could Not Confirm

As of Tuesday morning: the real-time spread between informal buying and selling rates outside Havana; this week’s blackout schedule; and whether any sanctions discussion exists beyond the public statements at the UN.

More: Cuba news in English, every day from The Rio Times. See also our daily guide for Tuesday 29 September.

What is Cuba’s informal dollar rate now?

745 pesos per dollar — the rate that shapes daily costs for anyone exchanging money outside official channels.