HAVANA, Dec 13 Reuters Cuban gasoline, already one of the world39;s best bargains, is getting cheaper by the day for those with access to dollars, as the local peso currency continues its freefall against the greenback.

Special 94 octane gasoline sells on the Caribbean island nation for 30 pesos, or 11 cents per liter 42 centsgallon at the current black market exchange rate, among the world39;s cheapest fuel, according to online database GlobalPetrolPrices.com.

A typical halfliter of bottled water in Cuba, by comparison, sells for between 100 and 200 pesos, more than ten times the price of the same quantity of gasoline.

Communistrun Cuba has subsidized gasoline for decades, since early in former leader Fidel Castro39;s revolution.

Meanwhile, the dollar, which Cubans obtain primarily through remittances or tourism, has soared from a value of 170 pesos a year ago to 270 pesos on the black market on Tuesday, giving those who have dollars far more purchasing power for products, like fuel, still tagged in pesos.

For a Cuban who lives on pesos alone, however, filling up the typical tank costs more than half the monthly minimum wage of 2,100 pesos.

The peso began a sharp decline in 2021 after the Cuban government announced a monetary reform that dumped a complex dualcurrency system, spawning a new black market exchange that has contributed to soaring prices on the island.

The situation is paradoxical, said Bert Hoffmann, a Latin America expert at the German Institute of…