The government will do everything possible, with everyone’s cooperation, to avoid any problem with the payment of salaries and pensions at the end of the month, Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides said on Monday.
The problem with the state funds "is something this government inherited," Stylianides pointed out, noting that currently ruling Democratic Rally, while still in the opposition, had been warning of this eventuality.
"Unfortunately, things were left to take this turn, due to indecisiveness and fear of responsibility," Stylianides pointed out.
He added that "we are indeed in a very difficult political and financial situation but this difficult political and financial situation demands rationalism, prudence and the absolute serving of national interest and national prospects."
The Spokesman said that at this point, those who are proposing an exit from the Euro, "degrading and restricting the European capacity of the country, are leading things to an absolute dead end," and questioned whether this position was based on specific and reasonable data.
Commenting on remarks that former Minister of Finance Vassos Shiarly had assured that there would be no problem with payments until May, Stylianides said that "unfortunately most of the assurances given by the previous government seem not to be based on true facts."
Stylianides said the government was doing everything possible to pass a bill concerning the bailout agreement over the next few days, "so that there will be no problem with salaries and pensions at the end of the month."
He added that with the next Eurogroup schedule and the promotion of the bills concerning the final bailout agreement, there should be no problem.
Excluded from international markets, Cyprus applied in June 2012 for financial assistance, after its two largest banks sought state aid, following massive write downs of their Greek bond holdings amounting to €4.5 billion or 25% of the island`s GDP, as a result of the Greek sovereign debt haircut.
The government concluded a deal with the Troika of international lenders, which needs to be ratified by national parliaments and the Eurogroup. The Eurogroup reached an agreement with the Cypriot authorities on the key elements necessary for the macroeconomic adjustment programme.
The island’s second largest bank, Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki), splits into a "good" and a "bad" bank. The bank`s "good" assets are being transferred to the Bank of Cyprus, where a massive haircut is being imposed on uninsured deposits of more than €100,000.
