Shiarly talks up Cypriot recovery potential
The Cypriot economy has strong potential to recover in the coming years, especially given recent discoveries of offshore natural gas, Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said Monday.
“Harvesting its own gas fields will boost local industry and drive the manufacturing sector in Cyprus to a much higher technological level,” Shiarly said in a speech in Nicosia, according to a transcript of his comments posted on the Finance Ministry’s website.
Structural challenges to the economy and the exposure of Cypriot banks to the Greek economy and the write-down of Greek debt have led to the exclusion of Cyprus from international credit markets since July 2011 and a request for financial aid from European partners and the International Monetary Fund on June 25, Shiarly said. In the next few weeks, the country’s Parliament will approve the necessary fiscal changes approved with international lenders and which are the only way for Cyprus to regain credibility, he said.
European Union finance ministers will meet tomorrow to discuss the establishment of a single banking supervisor. Cyprus, which holds the rotating EU presidency, “has achieved satisfactory progress on promotion of the issue, which is expected to be concluded by the end of the year,” Shiarly said. (Bloomberg)
