Cyprus placed on EC deficit watchlist

THE E.C. announced yesterday that it has placed Cyprus – together with Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland and Luxembourg – under the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) set out in the Stability and Growth Pact, after the government notified the EC of a budget deficit of 6.1 per cent of GDP in 2009, and a public debt of 56.2 per of GDP on a rising trend.

Yesterday’s move means that 25 out of 27 EU member states are now under an ongoing EDP, the only exceptions being Estonia and Sweden.

The EU’s Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN) will now consider the EC’s five new excessive deficit reports at its next meeting on May 18, and will formulate an opinion. Taking that opinion into account, the EC will decide whether to recommend to the Council the existence of an excessive deficit and a deadline for its correction. These follow-up steps will be discussed at the ECOFIN meeting of July 6-7.

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.