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TagsVassos Shiarly
Shiarly: haircut was never on the table
NEITHER the banks nor the government were aware of the extent to which the Greek haircut would damage Cyprus and “could not and did not take any measures” through negotiations to limit the consequences, former Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said yesterday.Shiarly was testifying before the committee of inquiry that is probing the circumstances leading up the ‘bail-in’ of Cyprus’ two largest banks where he also spoke of the previous administration’s track record of deficit spending; saying that while expenditure grew by approximately €1bn a year, revenues were consistently dropping... 16 comments
Archbishop: church’s bank has been wrongly caught in troika net
ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos has threatened to sue the previous government for placing Hellenic Bank - of which the church is a major shareholder - in the troika’s crosshairs.The cleric revealed on Sunday that he has instructed Hellenic’s board of directors to explore the possibility of suing former finance minister Vassos Shiarly and Central Bank governor Panicos Demetriades.The prelate said these two officials were responsible for including Hellenic in the terms of reference of PIMCO, an investment company tasked with carrying out a due diligence of the Cypriot financial sector.This was despite the fact Hellenic is a healthy bank and does not require state assistance, Chrysostomos said... 15 comments
Shiarly: we made two big mistakes
OUTGOING FINANCE Minister Vassos Shiarly yesterday offered some hindsight on how Cyprus ended up on the brink of bankruptcy, highlighting consecutive budget deficits and the unconditional support for a Greek debt haircut as the country’s “big mistakes”. Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC yesterday morning, Shiarly said: “Certainly, you don’t reach a situation like this without mistakes having been made. If one sought to find the big mistakes committed for us to arrive where we are, they are essentially two: The excessive zeal to show solidarity beyond our capabilities to another eurozone country. We should have put some conditions down, and examined how much our pockets could take... 13 comments
Sarris: time to resolve this once and for all
OUTGOING Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said yesterday the government had funds to cover its obligations until May, as its eight-month wait for an international bailout continued."Based on the data before us, fiscal issues can be managed without a problem until May, because we always work three months ahead," Shiarly told reporters after meeting President-elect Nicos Anastasiades and Michael Sarris, the island's new finance minister.Shiarly, who formally hands over to Sarris tomorrow, said that based on present circumstances the state would not need to resort to additional borrowing for another two months... 9 comments
