A 500 percent fuel price hike will take effect in Cuba this week, a month later than initially planned, the government of the cash-strapped island nation said Wednesday.

Finance Minister Vladimir Regueiro announced via government mouthpiece Granma that the higher prices will enter into force on Friday, March 1.

The price of electricity will rise by 25 percent from the same date for the country’s biggest consumers, he added.

Havana had announced a five-fold increase in the fuel price from February 1 as part of a series of measures seeking to cut the communist-run nation’s budget deficit.