Roundup: Cyprus exits from bailout program midnight Thursday

Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades announced the official termination of the eastern Mediterranean's three-year austerity program in a low key statement on his Twitter account on Thursday.

"Cyprus's exit from the economic adjustment program marks a new day and new responsibilities," Anastasiades' terse statement said.

Otherwise, the auspicious event was only mentioned in a short news item on the main evening news program of state television, which simply said that the bailout memorandum comes to an end.

"Cyprus will officially get out of the memorandum at midnight on Thursday," state television said.

Cyprus was sprang back from the brink of bankruptcy with a 10-billion-euro assistance program offered by the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund in March, 2013.

International lenders asked Cyprus to bring about cuts in salaries and pensions by about 20 percent, impose tax hikes on luxury goods and increase VAT for all transactions and goods except foodstuffs.

They also resolved the banking system by closing down a failing bank and recapitalizing the primary lender, Bank of Cyprus, by ordering it to seize 47.5 percent of deposits over 100,000 euros to recapitalize.

The Cypriot economy beat all projections by the international lenders, who predicted a deep recession and a runaway unemployment.

By the end of the three-year adjustment program Cyprus reversed a 13 percent cumulative decrease of its GDP, notching a 1.6 percent increase of its annual economy of about 18 billion euros (20.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Analysts attribute these achievements to the resiliency of the Cypriot people and the island's economy, to better than expected performance of the tourism sector and to the diligent application of requirements set down by its lenders.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades insisted all along on applying all conditions of the program and this was made possible by the lack of serious objections by opposition parties.

Cyprus was possibly the only bailout country which did not experience protests rallies and demonstrations such as those experienced in Spain, Portugal and Greece.

In announcing the successful completion of the bailout program, the European Stability Mechanism extended congratulations to Cyprus for its economic performance.

"Cyprus is the latest success in the Eurozone and proves the correctness of the policy of giving out loans under favorable conditions," Klaus Regling, managing director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), said.

European Commission vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner for the Economy Pierre Moskovici also praised Cyprus for the end of its program.

But Regling warned that self-control in public spending is needed and that reforms must continue, along with efforts to bring down non-performing loans.

ESM said that it will continue to work closely with Cypriot authorities to ensure timely loan repayments, through the ESM's Early Warning System, designed to detect repayment risks and allow for corrective actions.

Cypriot authorities will have to accept a surveillance of the economy by the European Commission twice a year and submit their own reports on reforms. Endit