By Angelos Anastasiou
Five bills overhauling the operation of the civil service were approved by the cabinet on Wednesday during its first meeting at the Presidential Residence in Troodos following the summer break.
Among other issues, the bills in question aim at reforming the hiring, promotion, and pay-bumps in the public sector, as well as the operation of the Public Service Commission.
Approval of the bills comprises a prior action mandated by Cyprus’ international creditors – the European Union and the International Monetary Fund – that needs to be fulfilled before the next tranche of financial aid can be released.
Speaking at Troodos after the cabinet session, deputy government spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos said discussion on the five bills, as well as the finance minister’s proposed bill on the privatisation of the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA), was not concluded, and is going to resume at next week’s session.
The five reform bills, he said, are “not just a prior action, but also a commitment made by the President on the campaign trail”.
During the cabinet session, Undersecretary to the President – and Reform Commissioner – Constantinos Petrides went over the five pieces of legislation.
“It is a grand project, there are five bills spanning a multitude of issues,” Papadopoulos said.
With regard to Finance Minister Harris Georgiades’ proposal on the privatisation of the semi-state telecoms company – which is being challenged by CyTA’s employee unions – Papadopoulos said decisions will follow President Anastasiades’ meeting with the unions in the coming days.
Additionally, the cabinet was also briefed on the half-yearly fiscal policy report.
“What is important and must be noted and welcomed is that both the first and second quarters of 2015 showed growth of 1 per cent, versus a projected 0.4 per cent,” Papadopoulos said.
“What is important to say is that international economics standards stipulate that an economy has exited a recession after two consecutive quarters of growth. Therefore, the Cyprus economy has exited its recession, and is poised to close 2015 on real growth, which means we are on the path to reducing unemployment and non-performing loans, which are linked issues.”
Following the cabinet session at the Presidential mountain retreat, Anastasiades and the First Lady hosted a lunch for the ministers and their families.
