Cyprus' leading on-line resource for home buyers & real estate investors -

18th March 2024
Cyprus Property News logo
HomeNewsCall for efficient title deeds system

Call for efficient title deeds system

THE FOLLOWING statement has been issued by the staff of the European Commission and the European Central Bank following the fourth post-programme surveillance (PPS) mission to Cyprus:

European Commission staff, in liaison with staff from the European Central Bank (ECB), visited Cyprus from 19 to 23 March to conduct the fourth post-programme surveillance (PPS) mission. The mission was coordinated with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) post program monitor (PPM) mission. Staff from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) also participated in the mission on aspects related to the ESM’s Early Warning System.

The ongoing strong recovery and the renewed reform mandate following the presidential elections provide a window of opportunity to reduce the key vulnerabilities of the Cypriot economy. Growth in 2017 outpaced projections and should remain robust, albeit somewhat decelerating over the medium term. Growth was broad-based, with buoyant tourism and construction benefitting other sectors of the economy. Consumption and investment were the main drivers of growth. The labour market situation continued to improve, with employment increasing across most sectors and unemployment rapidly falling. Despite the very favourable economic conditions, the share of non-performing loans (NPLs), private and public debt as well as youth unemployment remain high, albeit on a declining trend, while inflationary pressures continue to be weak. In addition, the persisting current account deficit warrants close monitoring, given the high level of external debt and negative households’ savings.

The positive macroeconomic environment combined with prudent fiscal policy have resulted in a remarkably strong fiscal position, yet a continued prudent fiscal stance remains warranted given the still-high level of public debt and risks to the fiscal outlook. Fiscal performance once more outperformed projections in 2017, mainly driven by buoyant tax revenues and, to a lesser extent, lower-than-expected expenditure. However, uncertainties and risks remain, such as contingent risks from the banking sector and the fiscal impact of the healthcare reform. A continuous prudent budgetary policy remains essential to ensure that temporary revenue windfalls do not give rise to permanent increases in expenditure and to safeguard fiscal sustainability in line with the requirements of the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact.

Addressing challenges in the banking sector should remain a policy priority due to the still high level of NPLs and negative profitability. The stock of NPLs has declined gradually but remains one of the highest in the EU and the progress made among the banks has been uneven. Loan restructuring continues, albeit becoming more challenging as the pool of NPLs for which negotiation is an option is dwindling. Bank profitability remains weak amid the need for provisioning for NPLs. On the other hand, new lending is recovering, supported by the strong macroeconomic environment. The mission highlighted the pressing need to accelerate NPL reduction across banks and in particular in the ones lagging behind. In this context, it is of utmost importance to improve the payment culture and that new schemes initiated by the authorities contribute in this respect and are in line with international best practices. It is also urgent to introduce the necessary legal amendments to make full use of all available tools, including to the insolvency and foreclosure frameworks, and to create conditions for a well-functioning secondary market of loans and loan securitisation. Tangible progress in all these areas is crucial for the banking sector to leave legacy issues behind and adequately support the real economy. In this respect, it is important that the recently initiated search for investors in Cyprus Cooperative Bank proceeds in a transparent and orderly manner.

Renewed structural reform commitment by all national stakeholders is necessary to maintain growth over the medium term and safeguard fiscal sustainability. Given its overarching impact on the functioning of the economy and its strong link to the reduction of NPLs, a swift completion of the justice system reform is needed, including the establishment of a commercial court, the update of the civil procedure rules and the adoption of legislation on improving claim enforcement. Moreover, the completion of the reform of the public administration would enhance the efficiency of the public sector and support fiscal sustainability. The mission also encouraged the authorities and other stakeholders to step up progress in other essential areas, including the implementation of the national healthcare system in a fiscally-sustainable way, the on-going reform of the electricity market, and the establishment of an efficient title deeds issuance and transfer system. Moreover, the mission underlined the importance of continuing efforts to enhance the economy’s growth potential, notably through improving the business environment and attracting further growth-enhancing investment, as well as prioritising key measures included in the action plan for growth.

The mission would like to thank the Cypriot authorities for their constructive and open discussions and IMF and ESM staff for their cooperation. The next PPS mission will take place in autumn 2018.

(Issued by the European Commission and the European Central Bank following the fourth post-programme surveillance (PPS) mission to Cyprus.)

RELATED ARTICLES

5 COMMENTS

  1. Ed Comments:- Regrettably, as Cyprus has successfully completed the economic adjustment programme, the EU has no leverage to force the government to implement the recommendations contained in the press release).

    Regrettably unlike other more regulated EU Countries i.e. Portugal,Southern Ireland the Cyprus business model does not take in to account lesson’s learnt from 2013 Financial Crisis.

    Therefore we will have to wait until Cyprus are totally insolvent, with a mountain of NPLs that the so call Cyprus Leaders kick down the road until they have no choice but to comply to structural reform that works

  2. Many people are looking in the wrong places for the causes of the problems. They lie in the political culture of Cyprus, where the trade unions, professions, local government, police, civil service and state owned undertakings all dole out jobs to relatives and friends, without a thought for whether they are capable of doing them. Cyprus Airways went down the tubes and the banks almost did, while the teaching professions and civil service continue to try to maximise numbers employed and resist modernisation and efficiency, which has its consequences.

    You can’t have your baklava and eat it.

  3. I feel sure the Cyprus government have worked out that it is far easier and more cost effective to sell Cyprus passports than to put in place an effective title deeds transfer system.

  4. Another “on paper” report that just seems to say exactly the same as all the other apart from an update on the growth of tourism which has already been well publicised anyway and anyone who cares already knew.

    I am so annoyed with the ineffectiveness of these reports it will just be put in the bin along with the rest of them and things will just carry on exactly the same until their next visit when they will duplicate it all again and change a few sentences so teacher thinks they have actually done some work !!

    To bring about any change in Cyprus the only way is to impose heavy penalties for non-compliance (sanctions) however this would just backfire on the EU as a whole, so there really is no law-abiding hope for any change in the foreseeable future.

    Good luck and god bless you all.

    Ed: Regrettably, as Cyprus has successfully completed the economic adjustment programme, the EU has no leverage to force the government to implement the recommendations contained in the press release.

  5. Further re titles, as a developer with titles to a completed project, some of my purchasers are not coming forward to accept title, they simply don’t want it, I presume they don’t have the money for the transfer.

    There’s no law to make them come and register the title in their name.

    Ed: As a developer you can apply for Title Deeds, which will force the transfer of the properties.

Comments are closed.

Top Stories

Sign up to receive our free newsletter

We handle your data responsibly, find more about our privacy policy

Cyprus property transfer fees

Elsewhere in Cyprus Property News

EUR - Euro Member Countries
GBP
1.1684
RUB
0.0101
CNY
0.1285
CHF
1.0436

Property capital gains tax (CGT) calculator