12/06/2003 09:05
The inability on behalf of the government to take the proper decisions in a difficult period for the Cyprus economy has raised great concerns, former Finance Minister, Takis Clerides told StockWatch on Thursday.
Mr. Clerides noted that the previous government had not submitted false figures to the European Union, which had then proceeded to flattering comments on the progress of the island’s economy, commenting on the Finance Minister’s criticisms on the debt of CYP 300 million. “The indices of the Cyprus economy were excellent. It would be inconceivable to believe that we could risk our credibility against the EU, which has the power to control the figures of its member and candidate states”, he added.
As regards to the forecasts for 2003 carried out by the Finance Ministry in September, Mr. Clerides said that that these are conducted by the technocrats and not the Ministers. “The complementary budgets are usually submitted when this is deemed necessary and our government did so”, Mr. Clerides noted.
Mr. Clerides stressed that that the former government had seriously taken into account the possibility of a war in Iraq and despite the fact that there were no clear indications at that time, it had decided to proceed to the relevant measures. “Our measures were adopted by the present government. It is, therefore, time to stop criticizing the former government and deal with the island’s economy”, he concluded.
Mr. Clerides noted that the previous government had not submitted false figures to the European Union, which had then proceeded to flattering comments on the progress of the island’s economy, commenting on the Finance Minister’s criticisms on the debt of CYP 300 million. “The indices of the Cyprus economy were excellent. It would be inconceivable to believe that we could risk our credibility against the EU, which has the power to control the figures of its member and candidate states”, he added.
As regards to the forecasts for 2003 carried out by the Finance Ministry in September, Mr. Clerides said that that these are conducted by the technocrats and not the Ministers. “The complementary budgets are usually submitted when this is deemed necessary and our government did so”, Mr. Clerides noted.
Mr. Clerides stressed that that the former government had seriously taken into account the possibility of a war in Iraq and despite the fact that there were no clear indications at that time, it had decided to proceed to the relevant measures. “Our measures were adopted by the present government. It is, therefore, time to stop criticizing the former government and deal with the island’s economy”, he concluded.
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