The government supports vulnerable groups of the population which are affected more than others from the financial crisis, Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides has said.
In a written statement on Saturday Stylianides says that employees of semi-state organizations should have a leading role in the process of privatization.
“Despite the immense economic difficulties the country is faced with, in the context of its policy to support socially vulnerable groups, the government provides large amounts of money to help our compatriots who are suffering right now as a result of the effects of the economic crisis”, the Government Spokesman points out.
Referring to a term of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on privatisations, the basis of a bail out Cyprus has agreed with its international lenders in March this year, Stylianides points out that employees could have “a leading role” in the process both at the shareholder base level and as regards the subsequent management of each organisation.
Referring to the positive reviews Cyprus has received from the Troika (EC, ECB, IMF) so far and the upgrade of the Cypriot economy by international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s, he says they constitute signs which enhance the gradual recovery of trust in the country’s economy, a necessary element in order to restart the economy in concrete terms.
He further says that the government will remain on the same wise path, reiterating that as President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades has said “everyone has a role to play in this effort.”
Standard and Poor’s raised on Friday its long and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Cyprus to `B-/B from `CCC+/C`. The outlook on the credit is stable, S&P said in a statement.
Excluded from the international markets, Cyprus applied for financial assistance to cover its fiscal needs and to rescue its two largest bank hit severely by deteriorating assets amid the financial crisis and by the Greek sovereign debt haircut. The Cypriot authorities and the Troika (EC, ECB and the IMF) agreed last March on a €10 billion bailout, featuring haircut of uninsured deposits. So far Cyprus has received €4.7 billion
