Cyprus PIO: News Update in English, 01-09-21

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From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/>

Friday, 21 September 2001

CONTENTS

• [01] Reference to the Cyprus problem in the UN Secretary General's Report
• [02] Council of Europe's representatives for money laundering issues
• [03] Budget for the year 2002

[01] Reference to the Cyprus problem in the UN Secretary General's Report

Concerning the Cyprus problem, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Anna, referred to the proxomity talks which took place between President Clerides and Mr Denktash under the aegis of Mr Annan up to November 2000. Moreover, the UN Secretary General in his report stated that Mr Denktash asked not to set a date for the resumption of talks for the beginning of 2001.

[02] Council of Europe's representatives for money laundering issues

After the meeting, Mr Clerides made, inter alia, the following statement:

"Cyprus has excellent relations with the Council of Europe and all countries in general in terms of cooperating with them for the combat of money laundering activities. It is our conviction that in order to combat this international phenomenon we need to cooperate with each other. Cyprus' legislation in this area is highly developed and our visitors from the Council of Europe are aware of this. We monitor the situation closely and we try to develop as much as possible the measures to be applied and our know-how. It is also important to note that we will increase the number of the personnel of the special unit for the combat of money laundering MOKAS".

[03] Budget for the year 2002

Based on this budget, public deficit presents a decrease for the third consecutive year and this is important since it is foreseen that the Gross Domestic Product will be limited to 2,4% and because of the Maastricht Treaty criterion which foresees that Public Deficit must be kept under 3%. With regard to Public Debt the percentage will range around 59,3%.

The rate of growth is expected to reach 4,5% in the year 2001, whilst for the year 2002 it is expected that the rate will reach 4%, without taking into consideration the latest events which affect the international economy.

The inflation rate is expected to be kept at 2% based on the current data. At the same time the unemployment rate is expected to be kept at around 3% for the years 2001 and 2002.

From the Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office (PIO) Server at http://www.pio.gov.cy/

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