There are plans to allow casinos to operate in South Cyprus and offer companies tax breaks on profits re-invested in the South in order to kickstart its failing economy.
President Anastasiades briefed his ministers at an informal meeting yesterday saying that a 12 point growth plan would be presented to the Cabinet for its approval within the next two weeks.
The stringent terms of the EU bailout has worsened the South’s economic recession, with the downsizing of the banking sector and the loss of thousands of jobs.
The new measures intended to attract foreign investment, include tax exemptions on business profits re-invested in the South and the easing of repayment terms and interest rates on loans.
The government hopes to lift the ban on casinos in order to attract tourists to the South. The President said that his government would focus on “growth and incentives for growth.”
The EU bailout has imposed a huge levy on large bank depositors who could lose up to 60% of their capital, thus severely impacting business activities.
President Anastadiades has defended the rescue deal as painful but essential, saying that without it, South Cyprus had faced certain banking collapse and risked becoming the first country to be pushed out of the European single currency.
