Cyprus-Forum.com

[Cap]

Agree with CBers.
It was brewing a long time and aiming straight at the proverbial fan.

And lest anybody deny it, it ultimately exposed the rotten incompetence and corruption as well.
Like mother like daughter.

[ZoC]

Christofias and his government made several mistakes but it is unfair to blame the crisis in Cyprus on them.

The recent economic troubles of Cyprus are due to 2 factors, both directly related to the global economic crisis:

1. The exposure of our banks in Greece and the billions they lost there. This forced the state to bail them out to keep the banking sector from collapsing.

2. The bust that followed the property boom which meant that many people found themselves in debt which they are unable to pay back while the state stopped receiving the huge amount of taxes it had received from property sale taxes during the previous years.

I doubt that any other government would have managed any better since none of the others would have done anything to stop our Banks investing in Greece or prevent the property boom from going out of control.

Sure, maybe Christofias could have done some things better, but none of those things would have made a huge difference.

Unfortunately most of our politicians are not responsible and they say whatever they believe will attract more votes and this is why everybody else is trying to blame Christofias for all the problems of Cyprus. And with that I don't mean that AKEL is a responsible party. If AKEL was not the government they would have never agreed for a memorandum and they would be in the streets protesting now.

dunno about no. 2, but i think christofias has made a total pig's ear of no. 1, managing the banks and finances. (10 billion of 17 billion bailout is needed for the banks alone - if we're to believe the figures. it could end up being even worse for all we know). this is why:

1. he never listened to his finance minister or bank governor, despite his lack of basic understanding of economics, leading to a fatal communication breakdown;
2. he supported marfin in moving its hq to greece but without being incorporated in greece - against the central bank governor's advice as the bank was to remain under cypriot supervision and ultimate cypriot government responsibility if/when the shit hit the fan;
3. he then didn't veto the greek haircut - even though marfin, (now hugely exposed in greece), couldn't be integrated into the greek bailout and would need to be bailed out by the cypriot tax payer;
4. he used the russian loan to continue splashing out on public sector spending rather than to shore up the banks and bring in some austerity to ease the situation;
5. he moved debt regulation duties from the central bank to the finance ministry, making it a political process and leading to the disastrous approval of short term (expensive) government borrowing to try and get round austerity, buying time until he'd retired;
5. he tried to play the russians off against the eu when trying to secure a bailout, pissing off the europeans and causing unnecessary delays to sort things out;
6. he only agreed to the troika bailout at the 11th hour when he was warned there would be a run on the banks which would have led to bankruptcy;
7. thus he capitulated, leaving no room for any negotiation and utter humiliation;
8. as a result of his dithering we still don't know the full extent of the damage - nor even whether the eu will agree to the bailout - leading to continued uncertainty and now the raiding of public sector utility pension funds to pay public sector wages over christmas.
9.. err that'll do.

[CBBB]

Christofias and his government made several mistakes but it is unfair to blame the crisis in Cyprus on them.

The recent economic troubles of Cyprus are due to 2 factors, both directly related to the global economic crisis:

1. The exposure of our banks in Greece and the billions they lost there. This forced the state to bail them out to keep the banking sector from collapsing.

2. The bust that followed the property boom which meant that many people found themselves in debt which they are unable to pay back while the state stopped receiving the huge amount of taxes it had received from property sale taxes during the previous years.

I doubt that any other government would have managed any better since none of the others would have done anything to stop our Banks investing in Greece or prevent the property boom from going out of control.

Sure, maybe Christofias could have done some things better, but none of those things would have made a huge difference.

Unfortunately most of our politicians are not responsible and they say whatever they believe will attract more votes and this is why everybody else is trying to blame Christofias for all the problems of Cyprus. And with that I don't mean that AKEL is a responsible party. If AKEL was not the government they would have never agreed for a memorandum and they would be in the streets protesting now.

dunno about no. 2, but i think christofias has made a total pig's ear of no. 1, managing the banks and finances. (10 billion of 17 billion bailout is needed for the banks alone - if we're to believe the figures. it could end up being even worse for all we know). this is why:

1. he never listened to his finance minister or bank governor, despite his lack of basic understanding of economics, leading to a fatal communication breakdown;
2. he supported marfin in moving its hq to greece but without being incorporated in greece - against the central bank governor's advice as the bank was to remain under cypriot supervision and ultimate cypriot government responsibility if/when the shit hit the fan;
3. he then didn't veto the greek haircut - even though marfin, (now hugely exposed in greece), couldn't be integrated into the greek bailout and would need to be bailed out by the cypriot tax payer;
4. he used the russian loan to continue splashing out on public sector spending rather than to shore up the banks and bring in some austerity to ease the situation;
5. he moved debt regulation duties from the central bank to the finance ministry, making it a political process and leading to the disastrous approval of short term (expensive) government borrowing to try and get round austerity, buying time until he'd retired;
5. he tried to play the russians off against the eu when trying to secure a bailout, pissing off the europeans and causing unnecessary delays to sort things out;
6. he only agreed to the troika bailout at the 11th hour when he was warned there would be a run on the banks which would have led to bankruptcy;
7. thus he capitulated, leaving no room for any negotiation and utter humiliation;
8. as a result of his dithering we still don't know the full extent of the damage - nor even whether the eu will agree to the bailout - leading to continued uncertainty and now the raiding of public sector utility pension funds to pay public sector wages over christmas.
9.. err that'll do.

We know 2 digit numbers are a problem for you, but that is no excuse not to list more of the idiots cock-ups! You could use 9a, 9b, 9c, etc. up until where you know the alphabet as well.

[ZoC]

christofias.jpg

[Piratis]

Christofias and his government made several mistakes but it is unfair to blame the crisis in Cyprus on them.

The recent economic troubles of Cyprus are due to 2 factors, both directly related to the global economic crisis:

1. The exposure of our banks in Greece and the billions they lost there. This forced the state to bail them out to keep the banking sector from collapsing.

2. The bust that followed the property boom which meant that many people found themselves in debt which they are unable to pay back while the state stopped receiving the huge amount of taxes it had received from property sale taxes during the previous years.

I doubt that any other government would have managed any better since none of the others would have done anything to stop our Banks investing in Greece or prevent the property boom from going out of control.

Sure, maybe Christofias could have done some things better, but none of those things would have made a huge difference.

Unfortunately most of our politicians are not responsible and they say whatever they believe will attract more votes and this is why everybody else is trying to blame Christofias for all the problems of Cyprus. And with that I don't mean that AKEL is a responsible party. If AKEL was not the government they would have never agreed for a memorandum and they would be in the streets protesting now.

Come on, reh Piratis, we all know we were deep in the brown stuff, but why did this current lot of incompetent idiots not notice what was happening and take action earlier? The signs were there, and the opposition kept telling them, but no, they knew better!

They did take some action. But lets say they had gone harder with austerity earlier to save an additional 300-400 million. That wouldn't save us.

Unfortunately most of our politicians are irresponsible. Nobody wanted to be the one who would make the deal with Troika and impose hard austerity because that would entail political cost. Christofias wanted to delay the deal with Troika so that the next government would have to make the deal and not him, while the opposition wanted Christofias to make the deal so they can blame him for the results, win the elections, and then say that the effects of the memorandum is not their fault.

All political parties put their party interests above the interests of Cyprus.

[ZoC]

Christofias and his government made several mistakes but it is unfair to blame the crisis in Cyprus on them.

The recent economic troubles of Cyprus are due to 2 factors, both directly related to the global economic crisis:

1. The exposure of our banks in Greece and the billions they lost there. This forced the state to bail them out to keep the banking sector from collapsing.

2. The bust that followed the property boom which meant that many people found themselves in debt which they are unable to pay back while the state stopped receiving the huge amount of taxes it had received from property sale taxes during the previous years.

I doubt that any other government would have managed any better since none of the others would have done anything to stop our Banks investing in Greece or prevent the property boom from going out of control.

Sure, maybe Christofias could have done some things better, but none of those things would have made a huge difference.

Unfortunately most of our politicians are not responsible and they say whatever they believe will attract more votes and this is why everybody else is trying to blame Christofias for all the problems of Cyprus. And with that I don't mean that AKEL is a responsible party. If AKEL was not the government they would have never agreed for a memorandum and they would be in the streets protesting now.

dunno about no. 2, but i think christofias has made a total pig's ear of no. 1, managing the banks and finances. (10 billion of 17 billion bailout is needed for the banks alone - if we're to believe the figures. it could end up being even worse for all we know). this is why:

1. he never listened to his finance minister or bank governor, despite his lack of basic understanding of economics, leading to a fatal communication breakdown;
2. he supported marfin in moving its hq to greece but without being incorporated in greece - against the central bank governor's advice as the bank was to remain under cypriot supervision and ultimate cypriot government responsibility if/when the shit hit the fan;
3. he then didn't veto the greek haircut - even though marfin, (now hugely exposed in greece), couldn't be integrated into the greek bailout and would need to be bailed out by the cypriot tax payer;
4. he used the russian loan to continue splashing out on public sector spending rather than to shore up the banks and bring in some austerity to ease the situation;
5. he moved debt regulation duties from the central bank to the finance ministry, making it a political process and leading to the disastrous approval of short term (expensive) government borrowing to try and get round austerity, buying time until he'd retired;
5. he tried to play the russians off against the eu when trying to secure a bailout, pissing off the europeans and causing unnecessary delays to sort things out;
6. he only agreed to the troika bailout at the 11th hour when he was warned there would be a run on the banks which would have led to bankruptcy;
7. thus he capitulated, leaving no room for any negotiation and utter humiliation;
8. as a result of his dithering we still don't know the full extent of the damage - nor even whether the eu will agree to the bailout - leading to continued uncertainty and now the raiding of public sector utility pension funds to pay public sector wages over christmas.
9.. err that'll do.

We know 2 digit numbers are a problem for you, but that is no excuse not to list more of the idiots cock-ups! You could use 9a, 9b, 9c, etc. up until where you know the alphabet as well.

i need to get my head round one digit numbers first....

[ZoC]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... orry-state

i've already summarised the above report to some extent, but thought a comment posted underneath it - by someone called gavin jones - is worth highlighting...

Cyprus used to be synonymous with hospitality, even-handedness, unconditional kindness and many other virtues. No more.
It now has corruption, cronyism, a judiciary which is held in contempt and every other ill imaginable. In fact, the legal profession dominates those in ministerial positions and the majority of MPs are lawyers who are allowed to practise their 'craft' while supposedly serving as parliamentarians.
Add to this cocktail the knee-jerk, paranoid national sport of blaming all problems on the foreigner - especially the West and now the troika. Everything's a conspiracy, real or imagined, with no blame being attached to anyone living on the island.
In short, Cyprus is a basket case which is ruled by a political elite which has dragged its people not only to economic but also geopolitical Armageddon. The best and only potential salvation is for the troika to take the country by the scruff of the neck, inject some discipline and impose its will.
The country's founding fathers who fought for the island's freedom from British colonial rule must be turning in their graves.

[tsukoui]

Sheikh Nazim's influence seems to be spreading throughout our tiny island. I would not be surprised if he was whispering to you in your dreams the way you carry on. His great thesis is that democracy is the system of shaytan. It is a system of career politicians who do nothing but promote their egos. His solution, a Sultan chosen by God. But how does God chose a Sultan I wonder. Perhaps we should go back to the ancient Greek way of choosing our representatives by lottery.

[mouflonrouge]

Christofias and his government made several mistakes but it is unfair to blame the crisis in Cyprus on them.

The recent economic troubles of Cyprus are due to 2 factors, both directly related to the global economic crisis:

1. The exposure of our banks in Greece and the billions they lost there. This forced the state to bail them out to keep the banking sector from collapsing.

2. The bust that followed the property boom which meant that many people found themselves in debt which they are unable to pay back while the state stopped receiving the huge amount of taxes it had received from property sale taxes during the previous years.

I doubt that any other government would have managed any better since none of the others would have done anything to stop our Banks investing in Greece or prevent the property boom from going out of control.

Sure, maybe Christofias could have done some things better, but none of those things would have made a huge difference.

Unfortunately most of our politicians are not responsible and they say whatever they believe will attract more votes and this is why everybody else is trying to blame Christofias for all the problems of Cyprus. And with that I don't mean that AKEL is a responsible party. If AKEL was not the government they would have never agreed for a memorandum and they would be in the streets protesting now.

Come on, reh Piratis, we all know we were deep in the brown stuff, but why did this current lot of incompetent idiots not notice what was happening and take action earlier? The signs were there, and the opposition kept telling them, but no, they knew better!

They did take some action. But lets say they had gone harder with austerity earlier to save an additional 300-400 million. That wouldn't save us.

Unfortunately most of our politicians are irresponsible. Nobody wanted to be the one who would make the deal with Troika and impose hard austerity because that would entail political cost. Christofias wanted to delay the deal with Troika so that the next government would have to make the deal and not him, while the opposition wanted Christofias to make the deal so they can blame him for the results, win the elections, and then say that the effects of the memorandum is not their fault.

All political parties put their party interests above the interests of Cyprus.

This is a fundamental flaw in our culture. Our politicians are more interested in themselves than to Govern and sometimes make harsh yet necessary decisions or the sake of Cyprus and a better future in years to come. The boters would punish them rather than at least giving such a politician who actually Governs for the good of Cyprus any respect.

So we have a bunch of cronies in Government.

If our politicians were to make harsh decisions in an effort to soften the crisis despite the political cost, then they shoul be respected for it. The people have a right to complain about the harsh measures, but they need to understand that something needs to be done by responsible politicians which sadly are few and far between in Cyprus.

[bigOz]

Will you stop spreading the scaremongering that only serves the bankers' interests!

Since it's a GLOBAL financial crisis; it wasn't avoiding "embarrassment" which stopped them running for EU bailouts but a search for best options.

What global financial crisis???