Growth cannot hide dangerous flaws

2010-12-07

 

DESPITE improved growth forecasts, the island’s economy could be looking at a further downgrading unless immediate action is taken to clean up state finances, Central Bank director Athanasios Orphanides said yesterday.

“A delay in taking such measures poses one of the greatest dangers facing our economy at this moment,” he warned.

He was speaking to reporters after a presentation of the Central Bank’s macroeconomic forecasts for the period up to 2012, where Orphanides painted a gloomy picture for the future of the economy.

The outspoken Central Bank chief flat-out dismissed the notion of raising taxes now, saying this would neither help restrain the rising cost of living nor improve public finances in the long run.

Our View: President increasingly out of touch with reality

2010-12-07

 

THE GOVERNOR of the Central Bank Athanasios Orphanides yesterday warned that failure to put public finances on a sound basis, as soon as possible, could lead to another downgrading of the economy. The delay in taking measures, highlighted by international analysts as well as the European Commission and the IMF, was one of the biggest dangers facing the economy at present, said Orphanides.

Polish man suspected of spying

2010-12-07

A 29-YEAR-old Polish man was remanded on Sunday by the Limassol District Court for four days on suspicion of espionage against the Republic of Cyprus, after he was found hiding inside a Limassol army camp.

The man was detected inside the camp on Saturday by an army cadet and after arresting him, army police searched the man and in his backpack found a digital camera, a laptop, five memory cards, two mobile phones, a GPS and three camera lenses.

All of the equipment will now be reviewed by police intelligence analysts who will examine the full contents of his laptop, memory cards and camera.

Generous pensions put MPs amongst best paid in the EU

2010-12-07

CYPRIOT MPs are among the highest paid MPs in Europe, earning 60 per cent more than their British counterparts after ten years on the job followed by 25 years in retirement, while only representing a quarter of the number of constituents.

In a report by daily Politis, Cypriot MPs were calculated to have taken home around €2,271,034 after 35 years spent in this way, compared with €1,404,192 for a British one.

The disparity is mainly thanks to a generous pension scheme offered to Cypriot MPs, who make no contributions towards their own pension yet receive almost three times the British pension.

Coalition takes ‘big step forward’ on budget

2010-12-07

THE RULING coalition yesterday appeared closer to a deal aimed at reining in the public deficit, following the latest meeting between the president and the leaders of AKEL and DIKO.

“We have taken a big step forward,” AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou told newsmen following the two-hour meeting at the Presidential Palace.

“I am confident that we shall have a positive outcome over the following days,” he added.

As leaked to the press, a proposed government package provided for curtailing the civil service payroll and raising taxes on a number of products, including medicines and foodstuffs.

The measures are aimed at slashing the deficit to achieve the EU goal of 4.5 per cent of GDP by the end of 2011.

UN works on freeing trucks trapped in minefield

2010-12-07

THE FIVE firefighters caught in a minefield while tackling a fire in the buffer zone were safely evacuated on Saturday but the effort to recover the three Fire Service vehicles stuck there is a little more “complicated”, said UNFICYP spokesperson Rolando Gomez yesterday.

“It’s a complicated operation which will probably take a few days until we get records of where the mines are. The vehicles are well within a hazardous mine area. That could require a lot of support and careful coordination with the Turkish forces and UNIFICYP patrol and deminers who are familiar with these types of situations and have expertise,” he said.

Suspects sought in alleged beating of Vietnamese woman

2010-12-07

POLICE ARE still searching for a 28-year-old woman and two male accomplices, who allegedly kidnapped, beat and abused a 36-year-old Vietnamese woman.

A 50-year-old man was already arrested and remanded for four days on Sunday in connection with the same case, while yesterday police managed to identify another of the men involved and have since issued a warrant for his arrest.

“We are looking for three individuals that are accused of beating a Vietnamese worker. We know the identity of one of the men and we hope to arrest him soon, another man has been in our custody since Sunday,” said police spokesman Michael Katsounotos said:

Anti-migrant protest as government launches inclusion campaign

2010-12-07

LARNACA municipality has called for its immigrant community to be dispersed around the island after several violent clashes with nationalists and immigrant factions in recent weeks.

In a letter to the Justice Ministry on November 30 the municipality said: “The municipality maintains that the immigrants that have gathered in Larnaca must be spread out equally so that we can minimise the danger for the creation of organised minorities in Larnaca.”

To address this “worrying” issue and avoid more violence, the municipality intends to set up an ad hoc committee under the mayor’s auspices and develop a strategy for the intended clear out.

Leaders meet for first time since New York

2010-12-07

THE TWO leaders yesterday pencilled in more meetings for December, after meeting for the first time since their get-together with the UN chief in New York last month.

Speaking after the meeting between President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, UN Special Representative in Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim said the two leaders met for just over an hour in a “friendly atmosphere”.

They reviewed the discussions of their respective aides, who met twice last week, exchanged views and agreed to meet three more times this month, on December 13, 21 and 28.

Meanwhile, their aides, Georgios Iacovou and Kudret Ozersay, will meet again tomorrow and on Friday, to decide the schedule of their own meetings in the coming weeks as well, she added.

Heavy rain won’t last

2010-12-07

RAIN fell all over the island on Sunday night, after months of very little rain and unusually high temperatures for the time of year.

“The rain fall was topical and won’t continue for much longer, being replaced by clear weather,” meteorological service official Marios Theophilou said yesterday.

The Airport Meteorological Service recorded the rainfall at 0.8mm in Larnaca, 2.4mm in Pafos, 4mm in Limassol and 7.7mm in Nicosia.

According to Theophilou, as of today temperatures are set to rise slightly again but not much higher than the seasonal norm. However, this is the worst November in terms of rainfall in the 110 years since records have been kept.

The weather will remain clear for Wednesday and Thursday as well.

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.