Privatisation budget cut by parliament a ‘costly, outdated’ practice

PARLIAMENT’S decision to vote down the funds earmarked for consultancy services by the government’s privatisation unit on Wednesday is a costly and outdated practice that may send negative signals to foreign investors, a government official said.

“Privatisations would send a very strong message to the markets” and rating companies, which still rate Cyprus’s sovereign rating below investment grade,” undersecretary to the president Constantinos Petrides said on Thursday.

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.