Minister of Finance visits Paphos Euro-Observatory

Minister of Finance Michalis Sarris has described the Euro-Observatory here as a very important tool for the government’s efforts to achieve a smooth transition to the single European currency, the euro, as scheduled on January 1st next year.
Sarris, who visited the Euro-Observatory in the western coastal town of Paphos, said “Euro-Observatories monitor the entire effort regarding the Fair Pricing Code, the stabilisation of prices and the avoidance of any negative consequences that may occur.”
Already, many enterprises have signed up to the Fair Pricing Code, which commits them to carrying out the changeover to the euro fairly, without seeking any advantage.
On July 10th, the European Union Finance Ministers (ECOFIN) set the permanent conversion rates of the Cyprus pound against the euro. One euro will be worth 0.585274 Cyprus pounds.
Cyprus, together with Malta, will join the Euro area 1st of January 2008, bringing the participating states of the Euro are to 15.
The Minister was also invited to comment on Moody’s, one of the world’s premier rating agencies, recent evaluation of Cyprus‘ economy.
In its evaluation, Moody’s revised higher the credit rating of Cyprus on foreign currency to “A1 Positive” in comparison to “A2 Positive”, which was the previous rating.
“The evaluation is very positive. It reflects the positive developments in the Cypriot economy regarding employment, stability, high growth rates and of course the very important achievement of our upcoming accession to the Euro area, which will result in more foreign investment,” the Minister noted.
Asked about unemployment in Cyprus, Sarris said that in Cyprus labor force is increasing, due to the influx of foreign workers and at the same time unemployment is decreasing.
“This is a very positive development which indicates the good state of affairs of the Cypriot economy”, he concluded.
The Republic of Cyprus entered the EU in May 2004.
Thirteen out of the EU’s 27 member states currently use the euro as their currency, namely Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Slovenia and Finland.