Cuba proposes sweeping reforms to socialist model amid US pressure

HAVANA, June 18 (Reuters) - Cuba`s prime minister on Thursday presented lawmakers with sweeping measures backed by the Communist Party and former leader Raul Castro that would privatize a vast swath of its socialist economy in a bid to survive punishing U.S. sanctions.

The measures - which still await a vote of approval by the National Assembly - would open the door to private real estate development on the Caribbean island, transform state-owned businesses into private commercial ventures with shares and equity stakes and allow private banks to enter Cuba`s once state-dominated finance sector.