Mexico plans to write off 70 per cent of a total of 487 million dollars that Cuba has owed it over the last decade, Mexican Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said Friday, dpa reported.
Videgaray told MVS radio in an interview that the remaining 30 per cent would be repaid over the coming decade to cement the "close" economic relationship between the two countries.
"We have for many years had a problem of a financial nature with Cuba, a loan that Bancomext granted the Cuban government and that now amounts to a debt of 487 million dollars, and there has not been an agreement on payment," he said.
Videgaray noted that the current deal was a result of talks that included the Mexican Foreign Ministry.
The announcement was made during a visit to Mexico by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez. This is the first visit to Mexico by a top Cuban official since centrist Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto took office 11 months ago.
Mexico was the only country in the Americas that did not sever ties with Cuba after Fidel Castro took power in 1959.