Ο
Υπουργός Οικονομικών κ. Χάρης Γεωργιάδης είχε σήμερα συνάντηση, στο
Υπουργείο Οικονομικών, με τον Επικεφαλής του Ευρωπαϊκού Μηχανισμού
Σταθερότητας (ESM) κ. Klaus Regling, ο οποίος βρίσκεται στην Κύπρο για
να συμμετάσχει στο 10ο Συνέδριο του «The Economist».
Σε δηλώσεις του προς τους εκπροσώπους των ΜΜΕ, ο Υπουργός Οικονομικών καλωσόρισε τον κ. Regling
στην Κύπρο, αναφέροντας ότι η εν λόγω επίσκεψη αποτελεί μια χρήσιμη
ευκαιρία ανασκόπησης της ήδη εξαιρετικής συνεργασίας της Κύπρου με τον ESM.
«Η Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία είχε απολέσει την
πρόσβασή της στις αγορές, αδυνατώντας να χρηματοδοτήσει τις ανάγκες της
από τις αγορές, εδώ και κάποια χρόνια. Συνεπώς, μέσω της εφαρμογής του
Προγράμματος Μεταρρύθμισης και Εξυγίανσης της Οικονομίας έχουμε
ταυτόχρονα τη χρηματοδότηση από τον ESM.
Μια χρηματοδότηση χαμηλότοκη και μακροχρόνιας διάρκειας, χρήσιμη
συνεπώς για την οικονομία και ιδιαίτερα για την προσπάθεια αποκατάστασης
της βιωσιμότητας του χρέους».
Όπως σημείωσε ο κ. Υπουργός, εξέφρασε στον κ. Regling την αποφασιστικότητα της Kυβέρνησης να συνεχίσει το Πρόγραμμα Μεταρρύθμισης και Εξυγίανσης της κυπριακής οικονομίας, αναφέροντας ότι είναι «ένα πρόγραμμα πολιτικά δύσκολο, αλλά απολύτως αναγκαίο, καθώς έχει αρχίσει ήδη να φέρνει τα επιθυμητά αποτελέσματα, όπως,
για παράδειγμα, με την επίδοση της οικονομίας να βελτιώνεται, την ύφεση
να έχει διανύσει τον κύκλο της, την ανεργία να ακολουθεί για πρώτη φορά
μετά από χρόνια πτωτική πορεία και τα δημόσια οικονομικά να είναι υπό
έλεγχο».
Ο κ. Γεωργιάδης επεσήμανε ότι μέσω της συνέχισης αυτού του Προγράμματος η Kυπριακή Kυβέρνηση προσδοκά στη συνέχιση για ακόμη κάποιο διάστημα και της χρηματοδοτικής συνεργασίας με τον ESM.
Με τη σειρά του ο κ. Regling εξέφρασε την ικανοποίησή του για την παρουσία του στην Κύπρο και για τη συνάντηση με τον Υπουργό Οικονομικών. Ανέφερε συγκεκριμένα ότι:
“Minister, it’s been a pleasure to be in Cyprus for the Conference and
the meeting with you. It is very important for me to see on the ground
what’s really happening. I know the data of course, but it is also very
important to talk with you and to see the real progress here, and there
is real progress. The adjustment has been painful, I know that, since
the program started a year and half ago. But this of course is in
response to the problem developed before that time.
And as the Minister said very clear at the
Conference this morning, one of the problems was that the program
started late. The problems continued to accumulate and therefore, became
the rather serious. From the ESM, we have played our part, we have
committed to disburse 9 billion euro to Cyprus, and the IMF on top of
another billion. Out of this total envelop so far we have disbursed 5.35
billion euro, so there is still a bit more than 3.6 billion euro in the
pipeline if the program implementation continues.
And the country’s GDP is the second largest
program. As you know, we also finance and have financed programs in
Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Greece. We do that in Cyprus as in the
other countries in very favorable terms, with an average maturity for
the Cypriot program of 15 years and at very low interest rates. This
actually is an expression of the solidarity from the European countries
and this solidarity has saved the Cypriot budget a substantial amount of
money. And we will continue to do so in the future.
Compared to market rates, ESM’s loans saved
the Cypriot budget last year about 1.5% of GDP. And because this program
continues, this amount will go up over time. The program has been
demanding on the country, it has been a lot of fiscal consolidation and
structural reforms, and as the Minister said the positive results are
beginning to show. Again, I would like to draw that in parallel with the
other four program countries, we also see clearly that the benefit of
fiscal adjustment and structural reforms will come after a while. There
is no doubt about that. In Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain we know
see growth rates above the European average. And also in Greece growth
is coming back now and unemployment has started to fall in all this
cases.
I think in Cyrus the restructuring of the
economy for tourism and non-financial professional services with less
dependency on banks will take a while to be concluded. But I think you
are on the way and the benefits will come.
In the short term, an important concern is
the size of the non-performing loans of the banking system. I think it’s
very important to manage that process and that contexts the new law and
the insolvency framework will be essential.
I welcome the progress made recently on
these issues and we have talked about them in our meeting and I am
looking forward to a productive discussion of these issues in the
Eurogroup that will take place on Thursday this week.
So, we, as the ESM, we will continue to be
an acting part in your program implementation, and I am confident, after
my stay in Cyprus, that you will continue to implement sound policies,
which will lead to sustainable growth again to prosperity and job
creation. Thank you very much”.
Question: I just wanted to ask if you share
the Finance Minister’s optimism that the recession is ending and we are
moving into a cycle of growth now. What is your projection about Cyprus
picking up steam economy, picking up steam again, and moving into
growth? Do you see this happening, what’s your assessment?
Answer: “I share that view. I think we see
it happening, we see it in the data, and you may be aware that the
European Commission issued today, this morning, its latest forecast, and
they also expect good growth for Cyprus. I feel confident about it
because it parallels very much what I have seen in the other program
countries, that started of course with their adjustments earlier
–Ireland started already in 2011, and the other countries followed
significantly earlier than Cyprus-, and they all go through this
process. First, it is a painful adjustment, but then, the rewards come
after a while and this is what we have seen again and again. And also it
is understandable that the population does not feel the improvement;
the population will see the unemployment rates and cuts in income.
Unfortunately, this is normal with such serious adjustment, but we know
from economic history and other crises around the world that with the
proper adjustment the growth will come back. That’s why I am very
confident that this will also happen here”. |
