Public sector hiring freeze extended

By a unanimous vote, parliament on Thursday extended a freeze on public sector hiring to the end of 2017.
Earlier, the government had submitted a bill extending the moratorium to the end of 2016, but an amendment tabled by the ruling DISY party added another year.
The move is designed to allow the government to comply with its obligations toward its international lenders.
Under the bailout deal, Cyprus agreed to slash the number of public-sector employees by 4,500 in the 2012 to 2016 period via, among others, a freeze on new hires.
The freeze applies to the central government as well as to semi-governmental organisations.

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.