Hosted at Mesimeri kai Kati, Finance Minister Konstantinos Petridis, a day after his meeting with the president of the Eurogroup, referred to a wide range of financial issues.
"The remarks made by the president of the Eurogroup regarding the performance of the Cypriot economy are very important," said Mr. Petridis.
They discussed, as he mentioned, with the president of the Eurogroup and the Minister. Mr. Donohiu, Minister of Finance of Ireland, bilateral issues and underlined that "with this leadership of the Eurogroup we have very good relations. This is also a small country (Ireland) that also has issues that concern Cyprus. We have to see the next day of the pandemic. "
The Delta executive and the ECDC injustice against Cyprus
Commenting on the reports of the President of the ECB Christine Lagarde about the concern caused in the economy by the evolution of the pandemic and especially the Delta mutation, Mr. Petridis said that "The Minister of Finance is not a matter of being optimistic. We must implement the most appropriate policies. This was also acknowledged by the president of the Eurogroup ".
Regarding the cases of the coronavirus, the Minister of Finance underlined that "the indicators of the ECDC are unfair to Cyprus. When Cyprus does 80.000 tests a day, while in Ireland for example the population of 5 million becomes 10.000 or in Greece 60.000, you realize that the absolute number is very misinformed. This is evidenced by the fact that we have the second lowest death rate. Of course we are concerned about what is happening with Covid, but we must say that compared to what is happening elsewhere, there has been successful management.
A new Lockdown it will be catastrophic
"I do not think that we should discuss a new possibility of lockdown at the moment or that the economy should be closed again because some people refuse to be vaccinated," Petridis said. the protocols "so that we do not even think of a new lockdown which will be catastrophic".
Mr. Petridis also noted, referring to the government's ability to support the economy in a possible new lockdown, that "the margins are not inexhaustible and no financial support from the government can replace the production economy as a whole."
The transformation of KEDIPES in 2022
The goal is to transform KEDIPES within 2022, stressed Mr. Petridis. The goal of the conversion, as he said "is to reduce the NPLs by 1 to 1,5 billion euros, ie around 35%". According to Mr. Petridis, the acquisition will concern portfolios, which will be related to the main residence and a small business premises. those who do not fall into the HOME. "This will be a decisive solution that can reduce the number of MES in single digits until 2024," said Mr. Petridis.
Public Debt
Public debt by the end of the year will be around 119% of GDP. According to YPOIK, the markets and the observers have 120% as "an imaginary limit" for the public debts, which "we have not exceeded and we will not exceed". Mr. Petridis pointed out the good position that Cyprus has compared to other EU member states regarding public debt, while he stressed that also compared to other Member States, in the case of the Republic there are significant cash resources.
Source: Economy Today