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HAVANA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- More than 7,000 privately-owned businesses in Cuban cities battered by Hurricane Matthew are getting tax breaks, the government said on Friday.
Businesses in five southern Cuban tows, including Baracoa, Maisi, Imias, San Antonio del Sur and Yateras, are exempt from paying a bevy of taxes for the months of September, October and November, according to the daily Juventud Rebelde, or Rebel Youth.
Businesses, which have to be rebuilt, will be spared from sales tax, personal income tax and taxes on services, as well as labor and social security taxes, the report said.
Hurricane Matthew plowed through southern Cuba earlier October, destroying much in its path with Category 4 winds, rain, flooding and storm surge.
The hurricane caused severe losses to the region's coffee and cocoa harvests, as well as other crops, destroyed 10,000 homes and damaged energy and communications infrastructure.
Matthew also hit Haiti, killing about 1,000 people there before moving on to pummel the southeast coast of Florida in the United States.
