European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn and President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi have congratulated Cyprus on the tough decisions and the austerity measures it has adopted to achieve fiscal consolidation. Speaking to CNA on the sidelines of the Euro-zone Finance Ministers’ meeting, Cyprus Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias said Rehn congratulated Cyprus on adopting tough decisions that would allow the country to overcome the difficult situation it was facing. Draghi agreed with that position, Kazamias said.
“In a short period of time and in a decisive manner, Cyprus has adopted measures that are considered very satisfactory to help reduce the budget deficit”, the European Commissioner said, according to Kazamias. During the meeting of the Euro-zone Ministers, the representatives of the countries that have implemented the Commission’s recommendation were invited to make an intervention. This included Cyprus too.
The Minister recalled that based on the difficult situation Cyprus was facing, the European Commission sent a letter on November 11 warning Nicosia with sanctions. Kazamias, as he stated to CNA, thanked the Commission for the letter of November 11, noting that it was catalytic in creating political consensus that formed the basis upon which the government founded its arguments for the proposal on the austerity measures.
The Minister also told CNA that during the meeting he referred to the measures that allowed Cyprus to decrease the budgetary deficit by 3,5% in 2012, compared to 2011.
