Final exchange rate expected at parity level

CYPRUS expects the pound will be locked against the euro on July 10 at its parity level against the single currency within the ERM2 ante-room, Finance Minister Michael Sarris said yesterday.

“This is something that is not for me to decide … but all indications are that there are no forces which would push the European Central Bank or the European Commission to make any changes to the existing parity,” Sarris told Reuters in response to a question yesterday.

Cyprus is to join the euro zone on January 1, 2008 with Malta. The rate of the conversion of the pound to the euro will be determined on July 10.

The central parity rate of the Cyprus pound in ERM2 is £0.585274 to the euro, but it is permitted to fluctuate around that in a plus or minus 2.25 per cent band.

“Since we joined ERM2 there has been very little movement,” said Sarris, referring to pound fluctuation levels.

Cyprus joined the ERM2 currency stabilisation mechanism in 2005, a precursor to adopting the euro.

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.