Communist-run Cuba unveiled tighter regulations on non-agricultural cooperatives on Friday, including curbs on their prices, in keeping with a broader push to increase control of the growing non-state sector. The new regulations aim to tackle "irregularities" detected in the cooperatives, state-run media reported. The cooperatives - where each worker has a stake in the business - were legalized in 2012 as part of the government's plan to cut a bloated state payroll and boost the Soviet-style command economy.

But a wary Cuban government froze the creation of new cooperatives two years ago. That freeze will be maintained during this "experimental phase" while the existing ones are consolidated, a senior official was cited as saying on website Cubadebate. There are an estimated 18,000 Cubans - some 0.4 percent of the total workforce of 4.4 million - working for non-agricultural cooperatives, in sectors deemed "non-strategic" like construction, transport, gastronomy and accountancy.

Some economists said the new regulations, which enter into force in November, suggest the Communist Party is still nervous about allowing the non-state sector to grow. Without such growth, Havana may struggle to boost an ailing economy battling less Venezuelan aid and tighter US sanctions, they said.

Copyright Reuters, 2019