Update to Cyprus Assessment

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ISRS Senior Researcher, Jas Mahrra provides an update to the Net Assessment Bulletin, posted on the Resiliblog on 28 January 2013.

It has been unveiled today that the EU officials have been working towards finding a way of rescuing Cyprus without triggering a contagion in the Eurozone financial markets. Whatever the bail in/out options being proposed they will have a long term impact on Cyprus as a tax haven for foreign investors and substantially scale down the country’s financial sector. Recognising the challenges in negotiating with Cyprus just around a rescue package, there is the opportunity for the EU to consider leveraging the situation not only in resolving a better settlement for the whole island but within the strategic context of an EU-NATO free-trade area. This could open up advantages on several fronts in the region & beyond.