Freeze on government jobs

FINANCE Minister Makis Keravnos said yesterday that the government would stop the hiring and salary increases of public servants as part of an effort to lower the public deficit to below six per cent by 2005.

The move is part of a series of measures announced yesterday to better the economy.
Keravnos warned that the public deficit had increased from 6.3 per cent in 2003 to seven per cent this year, adding that if measures are not introduced, it could rise well over eight per cent by 2007.

Other measures include a reduction in government spending and the collection of more than £230 million in unpaid Income Tax and £62 million in VAT.

Following the submission of the fourth plan to better the economy to the EU on Monday, Keravnos blasted the previous government for submitting plans that were either not implemented or simply did not work.

“No more hiring in the public sector, no more pay rises,” he said.

“I’m sure there will be reactions by we will just have to deal with them.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.