ESM greenlights €100m tranche

THE European Stability Mechanism (ESM) approved on Thursday the disbursement of €100m to Cyprus, following the positive assessment of the sixth quarterly review of the macroeconomic adjustment programme and approval of the supplemental memorandum by the ESM board.

ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling said he was pleased that Cyprus’ adjustment programme “is back on track.”

“The legal framework for a new foreclosure procedure has entered into force, and there has been a substantial reform of corporate and personal insolvency laws. These new regulations enable the country to effectively deal with the problem of non-performing loans. I trust that the government will continue its reform efforts so that Cyprus can sustain economic recovery,” he said.

According to Regling, progress in Cyprus confirms that “with strong ownership by a government our approach to grant a loan in exchange for economic policy conditions works”.

This has also been demonstrated by the successful programme conclusions in Ireland, Portugal and Spain, he added.
The current disbursement will bring the total amount of ESM financial assistance to Cyprus to €5.8bn out of the €9bn available under the approved programme.

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.