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Image header Agence Europe
Europe Daily Bulletin No. 10932
ECONOMY - FINANCE - BUSINESS / (ae) cyprus

Commission reminds Cyprus about BCC independence

Brussels, 30/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - After the ECB and the IMF, it was the turn of the European Commission to remind Cyprus that independence of member states' central banks is guaranteed under the EU treaty. In a letter to Cypriot finance minister Harris Georgiades, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn pointed out that under Article 130 of the treaty on the functioning of the EU, central bank independence is guaranteed. This is the third time that a troika institution (the Commission, the ECB and the IMF) has intervened recently. The head of the ECB sent a similar letter in June, followed recently by the IMF, which noted in its September monitoring report that differences between the government and the central bank were undermining confidence. In an interview on Mega TV, the Cypriot president, Nicos Anastasiades, recently revealed that he was gathering evidence to demonstrate weaknesses and failings in the central bank's performance. Asked about Olli Rehn's letter, the European Commission said that it wouldn't comment on correspondence between Commissioners and countries, with Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly noting: “Cooperation between any government and the Central Bank is necessary in the interest of safeguarding financial stability; this includes, of course, Cyprus.” (EL/transl.fl)

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