He received national media attention in 2009 on his appointment as Minister of Economy and Planning following the government shake-up announced by Raúl Castro on 2 March 2009.
Murillo retained this post until 25 March 2011, but was reappointed to it on 25 September 2014 to lead reform efforts in the economic sphere.
Murillo dislikes the idea of Cuba copying the economic reforms of Vietnam and China, claiming that the newly established private markets will benefit socialism rather than capitalism.
[9] Murillo was elected a member of the Council of State in December 2009 to "improve the planning process of the national economy", according to Raúl Castro.
[11] Initial planning had called for 6%, but as a result of the Great Recession, earnings from important sectors such as tourism noticeably decreased.
[13] He went on to say that with updating rather than reforming, the Cuban state economic system would remain highly centralised, although some businesses, such as barbers for instance, should not be directly controlled by the government.
[13] On the updating of the economic system he stated that newly established private markets would prioritise the interest of socialism, and not those of capitalism.
[14] At the December convocation of Cuba's parliament, Murillo took center stage to talk about the difficulties, inefficiencies and constraints of the Cuban economic model.