* Deficit likely to hit 9% of GDP in 2011 Last week, I ran an article on the banks and the budget in which I essentially argued that we were not yet in a crisis situation because the banks had plenty of cash to keep lending to the government. While there is still plenty of

BOCY tells gov’t to act now! In an unprecedented move, but not unjustified, the island’s biggest lender, Bank of Cyprus, felt it necessary to issue an announcement this week warning the government of the dire consequences if measures are not taken immediately to bring its fiscal situation in order. The bank has suggested that the

Overseas banks have just over $50 bln of loans outstanding to Cyprus, which may need an international bailout, its biggest bank warned on Monday. Bank of Cyprus said a rescue of Cyprus could be needed if the country does not take urgent action to repair its finances. Greek banks are the most exposed, and Alpha

Economic sentiment dropped in July, a publicly funded survey showed, without however factoring in the effect of a massive munitions blast which triggered an energy crisis this month, disrupting business. The economic sentiment indicator prepared by the University of Cyprus fell 0.9 points month-on-month to 83 points in July. Most of the survey had been

The Insurance Association of Cyprus said that to date its members have received a total of 388 insurance claims worth EUR 5.15 mln from the disaster at Vassilikos power station and the ‘Evangelos Florakis’ naval base on July 11. Of these, 56 claims worth 128,500 euros were for damage to vehicles, 308 were for damage

* Speed of restoration depends on availability of spare parts * 38MW in 2-3 months, 150MW from Unit 5 in 6 months The EU Civil Protection Team handed in to the Cypriot authorities the report containing its initial assessment of the damage at Vasiliko Power Plant, initially estimated at 700 mln euros. Representatives of the