Cyprus Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides and the ESM chief Klaus Regling on Tuesday highlighted the importance of implementing the Recovery And Resilience plans both in Cyprus and the EU which would further diversify the economy and boost growth potential following the Covid pandemic.
Regling who visited Cyprus to attend the 17th Economist Summit in Nicosia, met with Petrides earlier today and discussed the economic outlook of Cyprus, the ESM treaty ratification process and the National Recovery and Resilience Plans that would unlock disbursement of funds through the EU Recovery and Resilience Fund (NextGenerationEU).
In statements following the meeting, Petrides highlighted that the projections over the growth of the Cypriot economy have exceeded the expectations wile unemployed is declining, noting that the Cyprus National Recovery and Resilience Plan has been commended as “one of the best in the EU.”
“Our focus concerns the implementation of the plan, a plan that would lead us to the next day, the next generation and to a more green and resilient economy, a plan which is accompanied by reforms which we will try to approve in consultation with the Parliament,” Petrides said.
He also assured Regling that Cyprus supports a swift ratification of the ESM treaty by the Parliament, noting that bill has been submitted to the legislature for approval.
On his part, Regling said that the next “big issue” for the EU member-states will be the implementation of NextGEneration EU and the national Recovery and Resilience Plans.
“Cyprus has submitted a good plan and Cyprus can receive a significant amount of money out of the NextGenerationEU package of €1.2 billion and that is I think a very good incentive for promoting reforms, accelerating reforms that can lead to a further diversification of the Cypriot economy,” he said.
According to Regling, implementing these reforms will also lead to the green and digital transformation that Cyprus is looking forward to but also all the other European Countries are working on.
“So is a common European interest because if all countries succeed in implementing more reforms transforming the economy, then Europe has a chance to move to a higher growth path,” he said.
Regling also referred on the ESM treaty ratification process, stating that by early next year the ESM treaty can become effective and that treaty will give a broader mandate, including the backstop to the single resolution fund and also a broader monitoring role for all member-state for the euro area together with the European commission.
Responding to question for the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) reform, the ESM chief said the issue “will not be easy because we need a consensus how to change the current SGP which has worked reasonably well but I think the economic circumstances have changed and I do think we do need reform.”
Source: Cyprus News Agency