**DON ROYCEROY,S WUTZ READY AIM FIRE BROADCAST**  

Some of Cuba's payment problems have been settled or are being worked out now, sources said, but the availability of future credit for Cuba is in question because of the crisis.

"Credit has always been hard to come by and expensive because of their payment history and U.S. pressure. It's hard to see how it could become that much worse, but who knows," a European economic attache said.

Cuba, under U.S. economic sanctions for decades, is not a member of the International Monetary Fund or any other multilateral lending organization. The country has a Moody's rating of Caa1, or speculative and poor.

How much worse an already difficult financial situation might become will depend on support received from oil-rich ally Venezuela as well as China, and the Cuban government's willingness to push ahead with economic reforms, the sources said.

When Raul Castro officially replaced ailing brother Fidel Castro as president in February, he instituted some small changes such as the opening of cell phone and computer sales to the public and began broader reforms in agriculture.

The changes raised hopes, so far unfulfilled, of more reforms to modernize Cuba's state-run economy.

"If Cuba quickens reform, for example opening up the retail sector to private individuals and cooperatives, that would help domestically and be a positive signal even to China," said a leader of the organization of Spanish companies operating in Cuba.

The financial crisis also could provide an opening to renegotiate some of the debt hanging over Cuba's economy, diplomats said.