Cuban leader Raul Castro said on Saturday that the Cuban government will remove in 2011 all payment holds affecting its foreign trade partners.

At a parliament session, Castro said Cuba has eased restrictions on its banks to pay foreign suppliers since 2008, and will lift them completely next year.

The government has given clear instructions not to take on new debts without granting assurance of complete payment by an agreed deadline, the leader said.

Cuba has renegotiated debts amounting to over 2 billion dollars, which would have remained unresolved after 2015, said Minister of Economy and Planning Marino Murillo.