Finance Minister Makis Keravnos renewed on Thursday his call for Cypriot banks to lower interest rates, stating that things “cannot continue as they are today.”

His comments came ahead of the meeting of the ECB Governing Council which is expected to lower its basic interest rates, in the first reduction since September 2019.

Asked what will happen with regard to interest rates in Cyprus, Keravnos said that he is in continued dialogue with the Association of Cyprus Banks on the matter, adding that banks should assume their own responsibilities stemming from their corporate governance.

Banks “should regain the role of financing Cypriot companies," he said in joint statements with the President of Federation of Employers and Industrialists Antonis Antoniou, adding among other things that "they must do a comparison with what is happening in the broader European banking system and surely the data cannot continue as they are today.”

Furthermore, speaking before a meeting with the Federation senior representatives, Keravnos praised the Cypriot businesses and especially Cypriot businesspeople which support the economy in times of crises, adding he is visiting OEB to listen to their vision on the growth of the Cypriot economy and of their businesses.

He highlighted the views of OEB as part of the wider plans of the Ministry and the government “to strengthen our economic model, so that while maintaining the economy’s growth rate while seeing Cypriot businesspeople to operate in the wider European framework.”