Brussels, 20/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - Following the setting in place of the main elements of the insolvency package and property foreclosures, the teams of the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF announced on Wednesday 20 May that they had finalised an agreement at technical level with the Cypriot authorities.
This agreement, which has been a long time coming, now paves the way for the conclusion of the sixth monitoring mission of the representatives of the institutional creditors of Cyprus. “Further actions will be important to support the reduction of non-performing loans, including legislation to facilitate the sale of bank loans”, the three international organisations state in a joint press release.
The Cypriot authorities have been urged to keep up the pace of the structural reforms, particularly the reform of the public sector. A timely implementation of the privatisation plan is also necessary to “increase economic efficiency, attract investment and reduce public debt”, the representatives of the island's institutional creditors state.
According to the European Commission's spring forecasts, the Cypriot economy is still expected to be in recession in 2015 (drop in GDP of 0.5%). Cypriot public deficit is expected to stand at 1.1% of GDP and public debt to start to fall slightly, from 107.5% to 106.7% of GDP. (Elodie Lamer)