Brussels, 18/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, is confident that Cyprus will have a smooth exit from its three-year bailout plan this spring.
The Cypriot authorities have shown “real commitment” in the application of the three-year adjustment programme in exchange for financial aid which will be €2 billion less than the envelope of €10 billion initially earmarked, Dijsselbloem said on Thursday 18 February, at an economic dialogue at the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the European Parliament. The budgetary objectives have been “consistently met by a wide margin”, the required reforms have been carried out and the lifting of capital controls was a major achievement, he said.
The Eurogroup will discuss the end of the Cypriot bailout plan in March, a few weeks before the three-year plan comes to a close. Dijsselbloem, who is confident that Cyprus will soon be able to refinance itself alone on the markets, said that he had not received any request from the Cypriot authorities for the continuation of European solidarity, for instance in the form of a preventative credit line from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). He went on to pledge that the Eurogroup is prepared to carry out an economic and monetary assessment of the process underway which may lead to the reunification of the island. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)