Finance Minister again employs scaremongering about downgrades by rating agencies

Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Stefanos Stefanou

SME’s and self-employed people need support

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 11 June 2020, Nicosia

The Finance Minister is again employing scaremongering about downgrades by rating agencies to reject demands from professional and social groups.

No one disagrees that it is the Finance Minister’s responsibility to assess on a daily basis any possible dangers for the country’s economy. However, the Minister and the Anastasiades-DISY government must realize that if no substantial and targeted support is provided to small and medium-sized businesses and self-employed people – who constitute the backbone of the Cyprus economy – then it is the local economy that will collapse and we will be led to worst case scenarios.

For sure, the state needs to have its finances in order. However, when the state faces economic challenges like the ones we are currently going through, then the government is called upon to set out its priorities. If it is generous with banks and big business, but remembers austerity and fiscal discipline for working people, small and medium-sized businesses and vulnerable social groups, this isn’t a responsible stance. It is called social insensitivity.