Is Cyprus out of the woods?
Rating agency Standard & Poor's has upgraded Cypriot government bonds' status to "investment-worthy". After six and a half years at junk status the analysts have assigned them the BBB credit rating. Journalists examine the impact the 2013 banking crisis is still having on the country today.
From now on things will improve
At last Cyprus's economic woes are at an end, the Cyprus Mail writes with a sigh of relief:
“This is also a vote of confidence in the economy, acknowledgement that public finances have been put on a healthy footing and that the banking sector no longer poses any risk. ... All the economic indicators show a positive outlook. The growth rate is expected to be at 4 per cent this year while the fiscal surplus is forecast to reach 3 per cent of GDP, almost double that of 2017. ... The only danger facing the economy now is complacency, for which our politicians have a tendency.”
The law of the jungle applies now
Phileleftheros points out that Cyprus's return to creditworthiness has been hard-won:
“Basic rights of shareholders and investors were violated. Working conditions were deregulated, trust was breached on all levels, and any sense of security was undermined. All of this created a new order without rules where the only compass was the survival instinct. That's more reminiscent of the law of the jungle than of the rules of a developed country. ... All of us must show due respect for those who helped the country to overcome this ordeal. And one shouldn't forget that the state - and the people - are still encumbered with debt, and that our banks are still sitting on the bomb of non-performing loans.”