Minister of Education and Culture Andreas Demetriou has said that the state Universities of Cyprus plan to introduce new admission standards for students of minority communities and Cypriot repatriates. Cyprus has three official religious minorities – Maronite, Armenians and Latin communities plus many repatriates returning home from the UK, Australia and the US.Asked to comment
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The National Bank of Greece will be concentrating on the corporate sector to fuel its growth in the local market as opposed to expanding its retail branch network, its Chairman Takis Arapoglou said.Arapoglou told local media that with Cyprus already considered a developed market, NBG had decided to focus on specialised services and financing of
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The European Commission adopted proposals for the amendment of the VAT Directive and the VAT Administrative Cooperation Regulation to speed up the collection and exchange of information on intra-Community transactions from 2010 onwards. This will enable the Member States to detect carousel fraud very quickly. The proposals follow on from the Communication on the improvement
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The main impediment for Lebanese banks remains their high direct exposure to the risks inherent in operating in the Republic of Lebanon, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services noted in a report titled “Lebanese Banks Plant Cedars Abroad While Resisting The Political Impasse,” published today on RatingsDirect.The ratings on Lebanon were lowered to ‘CCC+/Stable/C’ on Jan.
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By Emily Kaiser WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve is poised to cut interest rates again this week while the European Central Bank remains on hold for a while, leaving the beleaguered U.S. dollar caught in the cross-fire. The slumping U.S. currency has contributed to oil’s climb to $111 per barrel. It
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HONG KONG/LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) – An emergency rescue of Bear Stearns Co Inc stunned the Wall Street bank’s staff and pummelled financial stocks on Monday amid fears that few banks are safe from deepening financial market turmoil. Bear Stearns staff turning up for work found the value of their stock options in tatters and
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Cypriot President Demetris Christofias has said that after his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat on March 21 it might be possible to announce the opening of a crossing point to and from the northern Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, at one of Nicosia’s main commercial streets, Ledra. The President also said that
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By David Brunnstrom BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) – Cyprus’s new President Demetris Christofias said on Friday it would not be possible to make progress this month on restarting reunification talks if the Turkish side stuck to a U.N. settlement blueprint. Reunification talks stalled in 2004 when Greek Cypriots rejected the U.N. plan, which was accepted
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ATHENS, March 14 (Reuters) – An earthquake shook southern Greece on Friday but there were no reports of damage or injuries, Greek authorities said. The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake, which struck at 9:10 a.m. (0710 GMT), measured 5.2 on the Richter scale. “It was a quake 275 km (170 miles) southwest of Athens
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Unwinding global economic imbalances without too much pain will need some fall in the currencies of countries with big trade deficits, Bank of England Deputy Governor John Gieve said on Friday. “If the slowdown is not to dominate, we need to see a shift in relative prices to relative demand — that is a gradual
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