Cuba's National Assembly approved on Friday a package of 176 measures that introduces market dynamics into the island's economy, in the deepest shift since the reforms promoted by Raúl Castro in 2011. The government presented the plan as a response to the worst economic crisis in decades, though much of the population receives it with skepticism.

Cuba's powerful ex-president Raul Castro on Wednesday threw his weight behind liberal reforms aimed at reviving the collapsing economy in the face of a crippling US blockade.

Cuba's former president Raul Castro on Wednesday backed sweeping economic reforms proposed by the government to revive the crisis-hit economy amid a longstanding US embargo. The…