Cyprus Launches Euro Helpline

Cyprus Finance Minister Michalis Sarris and Central Bank governor Athanasios Orphanides yesterday launched a euro helpline.

The line, 8000 2008, is available for free to members of the public who have queries regarding the euro.

Sarris and Orphanides toured the euro call centre, and even sat down and answered a few calls themselves.

“This constitutes a significant part of the government’s information campaign on the euro,” minister Sarris told reporters. “Members of public – from consumers to shop owners – can ask our trained colleagues any question they may have regarding the euro,” he added.

The helpline will operate up until accession to the Eurozone on January 1, 2008.

Meanwhile, the House Finance Committee yesterday examined a number of amendments for the law regulating Cyprus’ accession to the eurozone.

In the presence of the Finance Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Christos Patsalides, and officials from the Legal Services, the Committee is seeking to fine-tune the four bills forced through in March to meet EU deadlines.

The government considers the amendments necessary to create a more effective and smooth legal framework for when the euro is introduced on January 1, 2008.

Patsalides urged the Committee to put the amendments to the vote as soon as possible, taking into consideration President Tassos Papadopoulos’ presence at the European Summit on June 21 and 22.

The Committee heard how some of the amendments were essential, while others could be examined and altered.

Deputies asked for explanations on various issues, such as for how long cheques with Cyprus pounds would be valid, as well as how long goods would have prices in both currencies.

AKEL MP Stavros Evagorou suggested dual pricing be extended to avoid profiteering from the rounding up of prices.

The one amendment regards cheques in Cyprus pounds, which if dated from January 1, 2008 and onwards will not have validity.

Another amendment offers more power to the Euro Observatory Body (EOB), which will be controlled by the government but also include non-governmental organisations.

The Finance Ministry requested an amendment that would give the EOB the power to impose fines for violating euro laws. But the Legal Services objected to this, because the body was not just a state service.

According to the basic euro law, any violation of the regulations foresees penalty of up to £100,000 before the euro is adopted, or 170,000 euros after January 2008.

These fines will be imposed by the Central Bank Governor if a bank is the violator, or the relevant minister depending on the incident.

With the ministry’s proposed changes, the fines will be publicised in the Official Gazette of the Republic, accompanied by an announcement by the Finance Ministry.

All parties agreed this was a very significant and beneficial amendment, which would deter companies from profiteering during the switchover.
“I believe this amendment, which will see violators’ names published and which was not included in the preparation of the basic law, is very important,” said DISY’s Maria Kyriacou after the meeting.

Deputies also expressed their satisfaction at the ministry’s adoption of the proposals and suggestions the Committee had previously made.

“We must express our satisfaction because many of the proposals submitted by us but also all other parliamentary parties were adopted by the government and changes were made to the relevant law,” said AKEL deputy Stavros Evagorou.

He added that these amendments “regard the effective introduction of stricter penalties for violators and improve the role of the Finance Ministry when it comes to imposing these fines.”
Evagorou said the amendments would also introduce criminal offences, “because previously the euro laws provided just fines in case of violations, while today we are also adopting a prison sentence and criminal procedures”.