- Cyprus : Downer in the dog house over dinner diplomacy
- Opinions : Our View: Government needs to get its priorities straight
- Cyprus : Shiarly: no excuse for spending money you do not have
- Cyprus : Orphanides: they trashed the banks to win votes
- Cyprus : Cost cutting pays off in first quarter
- Cyprus : Capital controls relaxed further
- Cyprus : Historic visit by Russian warships
- Cyprus : Leukaemia boy’s family warns of fake collection in Paphos
- Cyprus : Interest rate reductions will help economy, spokesman says
- Cyprus : New law will result in more modern co-op sector
Tagseconomy
A race against time for Cyprus
THE HOUSE will convene extraordinarily today to fast-track nine items of legislation designed to keep the local banking sector afloat and to prevent a mass outflow of deposits, after MPs asked for more time to study the bills.Last night’s plenary session was adjourned for today at 10am, meaning that by that time the House Finance Committee will have to speed-read through hundreds of pages of documents. It’s still not clear whether the bills – some or all – will be put to the vote today.Cyprus has three more days to enact measures aimed at consolidating its banking sector and raising some €5.8 billion on its own, a condition for getting a €10 billion bailout from the EU... 5 comments
No cause for concern over medicines
DESPITE fear that the market will run out of medicines, the ministry of health yesterday said there was no cause for worry.There were claims yesterday morning that many private chemists were dangerously close to running out of stock because of low cash flow. These claims stated that a Cypriot pharmaceutical company would only supply private chemists with medical supplies if they paid in cash until the banks re-open. Panic was the result... Read on
Eurozone call notes reveal extent of alarm over Cyprus
EUROZONE finance officials acknowledged being "in a mess" over Cyprus during a conference call on Wednesday and discussed imposing capital controls to insulate the region from a possible collapse of the Cypriot economy.In detailed notes of the call seen by Reuters, one official described emotions as running "very high", making it difficult to come up with rational solutions, and referred to "open talk in regards of (Cyprus) leaving the eurozone".The call was among members of the Eurogroup Working Group, which consists of deputy finance ministers or senior treasury officials from the 17 eurozone countries as well as representatives from the European Central Bank and the European Commission. The group is chaired by Austria's Thomas Wieser... 1 comment
Momentum grows for Cyprus deal
THE EUROZONE'S 17 finance ministers will meet in Brussels tomorrow after an EU leaders' summit to discuss Cyprus’ financial bailout, officials said yesterday, signalling growing momentum for a deal.The meeting, which follows a mission by the troika of international lenders to Cyprus, raised expectations that the eurozone was close to sealing a package of aid that the island asked for last June."Friday 5pm (1600 GMT) extra Eurogroup on Cyprus," Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the meetings, said on his official Twitter feed."The expectation is that the Eurogroup will discuss the outlines of the aid programme," he said separately in a letter to the Dutch parliament... 5 comments
ECB had urged Christofias to take measures in 2010
THE chief of the European Central Bank (ECB) had urged former president Demetris Christofias at the end of 2010 to take measures to shore up the island’s declining economy it emerged yesterday after a confidential letter was leaked to the media.In the “strictly confidential” letter to Christofias, former ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet stressed that strong fiscal consolidation should have been Cyprus’ key priority for the 2011 budget and beyond.Dated December 15, the letter, also signed by former Central Bank governor Athanasios Orphanides, followed a surveillance exercise by the ECB.“…Cyprus is considered as one of the countries where the need for policy actions is particularly urgent,” Trichet said... 12 comments
‘The road is not strewn with rose petals’
Speaking at a memorial service in Limassol for former President Spyros Kyprianou, Anastasiades said yesterday his government will exhaust all possible resources to raise this country back to where it belongs. Anastasiades said the current government will work with the same vigour and determination as the late president did during his term.He added that we all must contribute, during this difficult period to ensure economic stability and restore growth.“We need to correct the wrongs and clean-up state finances without harming the vulnerable groups of society and without putting more pressure on our economy,” he said... 5 comments
EU doubles Cyprus’ recession forecast
THE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday slashed its economic outlook for cash-starved Cyprus, doubling its recession forecast for the cash-starved island.The island will see its €17.9 billion economy contract by 3.5 per cent this year, the Commission said in its winter economic forecast. The previous autumn forecast released in November had output contracting by 1.7 per cent in 2013."Risks remain important and tilted to the downside," the Commission said. Conclusion of an adjustment programme would be of "paramount importance" in stabilising Cyprus' economy, it added.The economy was expected to contract by a further 1.3 per cent in 2014... 5 comments
