Central Bank and Fitch officers find Cyprus affected less by crisis

Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus Athanasios Orphanides and representatives of Fitch Ratings reached the conclusion on Tuesday, during a meeting in Nicosia, that the economy of Cyprus appears to be affected by the global financial crisis but to a lesser degree compared to other European economies.

According to a Central Bank press release, ''important factors that contributed to this development were the proper supervision of our banking system and our accession to the Eurozone.''

During the meeting, various issues concerning the banking system and the Cypriot economy were discussed, in the light of conditions created due to the global financial crisis, with special emphasis on ''safeguarding the stability and the adequate liquidity of our banking system through the effective supervision framework implemented by the Central Bank of Cyprus.''

Regarding Cyprus' accession to the Eurozone, the Central Bank notes that the common view was that ''it protected our economy from the serious transaction convulsions faced by other small and open economies, even some with extremely good fundamental macroeconomic indices.''

The two-member delegation, which will be in Cyprus on Tuesday and Wednesday, also met with officials from the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, and is scheduled to meet with Minister of Finance Charilaos Stavrakis.

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