NICOSIA (Cyprus), March 15 — Cypriot Finance Minister Harris Georgiades, who is credited with having navigated the island through a painful 2013 EU bailout, announced today he will step down at the end of this year.
Georgiades, 46, who was appointed in the heat of the crisis six years ago, denied his decision was linked to calls for his resignation following the collapse in 2018 of the Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB).
He is credited with having brought the Cypriot economy back to robust growth after several years of austerity.
Georgiades refuted any suggestion that his departure was triggered by the findings of a public inquiry into the CCB downfall.
“My departure from the ministry of finance was not accelerated due to this report. Probably the issue of the Cooperative kept me here longer than I would have liked,” Georgiades told reporters.
“I have achieved most of what I have defined as my own goals and what was set out as targets under the government's economic policy,” he said. — AFP
