Cubans may be allowed to travel abroad as tourists

"Study a policy that allows Cubans living in the country to travel abroad as tourists," reads one of the points on a government document listing 313 reforms approved at April's Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.

The document gave no further details of the travel policy or a date at which it would be implemented, but it was seen as an official decision by the government to authorize foreign travel as part of a series of landmark reforms.

Travel abroad is not banned, but Cubans who want to leave the island need an invitation letter from abroad.

A $150 fee is then required for an exit request. Travel abroad has been limited to 30 days, and the paperwork authorizing foreign travel amounts to around $400 - unthinkable for most Cubans, who earn about $20 a month.

Up to now, travel outside Cuba has been limited mainly to artists, scholars, athletes and a small number of business people.

Following the 1959 revolution, the Cuban government gave tourist exit visas to exemplary workers who were rewarded with travel to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, this practice has been largely curtailed.

The policy shift is part of a series of reforms announced by President Raul Castro to give a jolt to Cuba's economy.

In other significant changes, the government says Cubans will be allowed to buy and sell automobiles or homes, and bank loans are to become more readily available.

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