On March 10, the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund will discuss whether to grant Cyprus the next batch of loans totaling 236 million euros, with the prerequisite being that the Cyprus Parliament must pass the state-owned enterprise privatization bill.
It is still unclear whether the Cyprus government will submit a supplementary proposal to the Parliament and ensure its timely passage to secure the loans.
Cyprus Finance Minister Georgiades warned that the failure to pass the privatization bill will lead to a funding shortfall for the government next month, potentially causing delays in the payment of salaries and pensions for public employees.
The state-owned enterprises involved in the privatization bill include seven companies, such as the Electricity Authority, the Telecommunications Authority, and the Port Authority. To prevent this bill from passing, employees of these three companies held strikes and demonstrations this week.