Tough days of harsh negotiations and policy implementation are awaiting Cyprus' new finance minister Haris Georgiades, who is to be sworn in on Wednesday after Michalis Sarris quit the post to facilitate an inquiry into what led the Mediterranean Island to the brink of bankruptcy.
Georgiades, 40, was serving as the labor minister and also held the post of the deputy finance minister. He inherits a crippled banking sector, that is undergoing serious reforms and restructuring.
Georgiades will be tasked with rebuilding the banking sector and reviving investor confidence in the economy, while adhering to the EU bailout terms.
Sarris resigned soon after he concluded bailout talks with the troika of international creditors, which has offered EUR 10 billion bailout assistance to revive the economy.
The troika negotiators, representing the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, are expected to present their report to the European Union ahead of a Eurogroup meeting on April 12.
After the conclusion of the bailout talks, government spokesman Christos Stylianides said the adjustment period for the economy had been extended from 2016 to 2018 and the government had been given time until 2018 to consider privatisation of state corporations.
Lay offs in the public service have been reduced from 5,000 to 4,500 while debtors were given a two and a half years period before their property would be taken over by banks, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation reported citing a statement by Stylianides.
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