European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is optimistic that Cyprus will use the flexibility it has shown many times in order to face the current difficulties as a result of the geopolitical upheavals and will emerge even stronger.
In an interview with Phileleftheros published on Sunday ahead of her visit to Cyprus in the coming week, Lagarde said challenges were also opportunities.
Commenting on the loss of tourism from Russia and Ukraine, Lagarde said that the Cypriot authorities were doing the right thing by pursuing other markets.
She also pointed out the great importance of Cyprus participation in the Eurozone, which allows it to function as a hub for business activities for the Middle East and North Africa region.
On Russian interests in Cyprus, the ECB president said: The direct exposures of the Cypriot banking sector to the Russian economy as a whole are relatively limited and continue to decline.
She said significant progress has been made in recent years in stabilising the banking system.
The Cypriot banking system is better prepared to cope with the current crisis, Lagarde said, adding that Cyprus was in a completely different position today compared with her last visit ten years ago as IMF chief and the island has effectively addressed many of the problems it had in the past, she added.
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