Cyprus Government is prepared in case Greece left the euro zone, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Friday, speaking to the press.
The President assured that the Government has conducted “tabletop exercises” to prepare for the possibility of Greece leaving the euro zone.
The lifting of capital controls “depicts the trust in our banking system which is now fully independent from the Greek banks” he noted.
Replying to questions during a press conference on Friday, the President said that the Finance Ministry is working closely with the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) to identify those projects that will allow the country to benefit from the 315 billion euro investment plan announced recently by the President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker.
Anastasiades acknowledged that tendering procedures lack transparency and spoke of vested interests that lead to delays in awarding tenders.
The Government will try to implement these projects the soonest and will ensure transparency in tendering by working together with the office of the Auditor General, he added.
“Hopefully we will be in a position to start these projects in Autumn” he noted.
He also said that by Autumn he will announce new modernising measures related to business activity.
Anastasiades said his Government will attempt to return to the markets sooner than expected, which he linked to the Parliament`s approval of the insolvency framework and the implementation of the new foreclosure law.
He said that it is our obligation to oversee the success of the bailout programme by implementing a series of measures and reforms.
The President reiterated that Cyprus` plans for the energy sector will continue. “The Government`s policies and decisions over the management of hydrocarbons are not suspended” he stressed.