Monday, June 13, 2016

Cabinet approves gas fund - INCYPRUS / CYPRUS WEEKLY

incyprus — 13/06/2016

The cabinet has agreed on a National Investment Fund to be established to handle future revenue from the management of natural gas resources, said Finance Minister Harris Georgiades on Monday.

Speaking to journalists at the Presidential Palace after the end of the cabinet meeting, Georgiades said that the legal proposal they agreed upon is the result of systematic work and advice from experts.

The legal plan, said Georgiades, stipulates procedures of transparency, multiple checks and balances, but also specific rule in how the revenue will be managed. He also said that the revenue will be used to benefit future generations, either by reducing the public debt, or by going into an investment fund which will make safe investments outside of Cyprus.

“Activation of this process will not begin right away, because we are quite a few years away from having this stream of revenue, but the fact that, in a timely way…our government is founding such a reliable, transparent and detailed framework, contributes to the restoration of investor confidence towards our country,” said the Finance Minister.

Georgiades said that the next step is for the legal proposal to make its way to the House of Representatives, which will examine and vote on it.

SOURCE