Cyprus assures international lenders of its commitment to reforms

Bailed-out Cyprus has assured its international lenders of its commitment to continue reforms of the economy and the public administration in line with a 2013 economic assistance memorandum, an official statement said on Tuesday.

The statement said Cyprus's President Nicos Anastasiades and Finance Minister Harris Georgiades discussed the progress of the economy with European Stability Mechanism Managing Director Klaus Regling, European Commission and International Monetary Fund(IMF) officials in Nicosia for an international economic conference.

"We gave an assurance that Cyprus will stick to reforms of the economy agreed as part of the 2013 bail-out," Georgiades said.

Regling, whose European Stability Mechanism financed the 10-billion-euro(11.06 billion U.S. dollars) bail-out of Cyprus along with the IMF, commented the eastern Mediterranean island for managing a return to economic growth even before the end of its three-year adjustment program.

Actually, the European Commission told Cyprus last month that its economy has been "overheating" recently and suggested measures of a slow-down, such as additional taxation.

But Finance Minister Harris Georgiades, both in a public speech and during his private meetings turned down the suggestion.

Anastasiades noted that a Cyprus solution now sought in intensified negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot community will actually be the biggest reforms of all.

"It will act as the driving force of economic development for decades to come," he said. Endit