Cyprus Announced 10 New Measures to Fight the Crisis

The Cyprus government announced an 'improved plan B' with a major input from the European Investment Bank to rescue the economy hurt by the coronavirus pandemic with loans worth €1.7 bln, as well as subsidies of interest rates for business and housing loans, after it failed to pass a smaller loans-guarantee scheme through parliament which would have required greater transparency.

President Nicos Anastasiades announced a 10-point set of measures on Wednesday night that aim to support employees and the economy, providing fresh liquidity and subsidies, with the ruling party saying it was clearly improved from the earlier package, while the opposition voices said there was nothing new.

However, employer groups said it was "direct aid to businesses and self-employed", with the Director General of the Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB), Michalis Antoniou calling it a package "injected with the OEB proposals as submitted during our continued dialogue with the government's economic team."

"This is a package of measures that is capable of restarting and rescuing the economy. We assure the state and society that the businesses will win this war. Now, better armed and with confidence, we're going ahead with the great counter-attack", Antoniou said in his first comments after the president's declaration.

Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEBE) chairman Christodoulos Angastiniotis called the package "rational, generous and targeted measures."

Both OEB and the Chamber of Commerce (KEBE) said they will wait for further clarifications from Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides on Thursday in order to give guidance to their members.

Ruling DISY leader Averof Neophytou, who had labelled the first measures a month ago as ...