The government’s ultimate goal is to rescue our economy and bring it back to growth, President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades stressed Wednesday.
He also rejected any suggestion for a return to the national currency, the Cyprus pound, saying that the government would not follow such “an irresponsible policy”.
President Anastasiades, who was addressing a commemorative event to mark the 68th anniversary since the end of the Second World War, said that the only ones who would benefit from the return to the Cyprus pound would be those who maintain reserves in the euro currency. Those people, he said, would then see their reserves multiply.
“Therefore, we will not follow any irresponsible policies, that would allow others become rich”, he pointed out.
He stressed that “the ultimate goal is to rescue our economy, even if we have to make difficult and painful decisions”.
The Cypriot President called on everyone to make sacrifices, saying that “our economic situation, which changed in an abrupt manner, will oblige us to share the burden, in order to be able to restore the fiscal situation of our finances”.
Furthermore, the President said that the country must follow policies that would allow the Cyprus economy return to growth and robustness, thus “leading us safely out of the Memorandum” with the Troika.
He pointed out that alongside with efforts to restore economic growth, the government continues to work towards a solution of the Cyprus problem.
The solution of the Cyprus problem, he said, constitutes a high priority for the country and its people.
President Anastasiades noted that “any new process on the Cyprus issue should make Turkey, the occupying power, accountable for the proposals it submits at the negotiating table”.
“Any new process will of course remain under UN auspices and should aim at finding a solution based on the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979, on the UNSC resolutions on Cyprus, on the July 8th agreement and the unanimous decisions of the Cypriot National Council, “he went on to say, all of which provide for a bizonal bicommunal federation.
Concluding his address, the President assured WW II veterans that both the government and himself would always stand by their side and support them.
The President’s speech was read out by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Christos Malikkides.
The Republic of Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and since then occupy 37% of the island`s territory.
Cyprus, which joined the EU in May 2004, signed an MoU and a loan agreement with its international lenders (IMF, ECB, EC) amounting to ten billion euro
