Cyprus to receive first tranche of EU cash for reforms on Friday

Cyprus will on Friday receive the first tranche from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, as European Commission technocrats conveyed to authorities here the need to adhere to the timeframe of reforms pledged by Nicosia.

News of the impending release of the €85 million tranche was confirmed by visiting technocrats of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG-Ecfin), during a discussion at the House finance committee held on Thursday.

The technocrats highlighted various areas of concern to the Commission, such as the high level of non-performing loans in the Cypriot banking system.

Maria Teresa Fabregas Fernandez, Director of the Recovery and Resilience Task Force at the European Commission, stressed to Cypriot lawmakers their own role in ensuring that reforms are implemented by the pledged dates.

Cyprus’ national resilience and recovery plan consists of 75 investments and 58 reforms. They will be supported by €1.006 billion in grants and €200 million in loans. Forty-one per cent of the plan will support climate objectives and 23 per cent will foster the ‘digital transition’.

All reforms and investments must be implemented within a tight timeframe, as the Regulation on the Recovery and Resilience Facility provides that they have to be completed by August 2026.