-
.
- Ελληνικά
Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letibiotis gave a media briefing today at the Presidential Palace.
In his opening statement, the Spokesman said: "We, as a Government, wish to reiterate our satisfaction at the passage by the House of Representatives of the State Budget for the year 2024, the first State Budget of this administration. The broad political consensus achieved for the passage of the budget, with the positive votes of 37 Members of Parliament, is a practical demonstration of the potential of synergies between the Executive and Legislature for the benefit of society, and a compass for how the Government seeks to move forward through sincere, beneficial and productive cooperation to create hope and prospects for all the people. We welcome once again the attitude of responsibility shown by the parliamentary parties and MPs in passing the state budget and the constructive contribution of all the political forces of the country in the formulation of the state budget through the proposals and amendments tabled.
The budget is growth and surplus with a fiscal surplus of 2.2% of GDP.
The implementation of the governance programme, the social contract of President Christodoulides with the people, is our non-negotiable mission. On the same path of responsibility, prudence and vision, we will continue to present policies and reforms aimed at providing decent living conditions for our vulnerable citizens and the middle class, quality health services, modernizing our education system, strengthening the defense and security of our country, in a modern and digital state. A prerequisite for the goals we have set is of course a robust, healthy and outward-looking economy, whose course continues to be recognised internationally by the rating agencies, but also one that truly shields society.
Another pre-election proclamation of the President of the Republic is being implemented with the activation of the online platform for "Participation in the National Solidarity Fund Replenishment Plan". The service, which has been operational since 20 December 2023, has been pending for a decade and was a pre-election commitment of President Christodoulides.
Through the service, the user will be able to submit data on impairments of deposits and/or securities that he had during the year 2013, while it is noted that only Natural and Legal Persons, who had the characteristics of a "private client" and who will submit their data, will receive the necessary assessment for purposes of establishing their participation in the Scheme, with the term "Legal Persons" including, among others, companies, associations, foundations, religious institutions, cooperatives.
The data collected will be managed by the National Solidarity Fund in order to carry out the necessary assessment and determine the beneficiaries and, consequently, the costing and preparation of a Partial Replacement Plan for the potential beneficiaries of the Fund, while the service will be available to the public until 30/4/2024.
The President of the Republic during the pre-election period had submitted serious, reliable and well thought-out proposals, which are being implemented in accordance with the timeframes set. It is recalled that within this framework, the state budget for the year 2024 included an allocation of €50 million for the fund's reserve, doubling the annual state allocation from €25 million in previous years.
The Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth will allocate an amount of €4,063,000 for maintenance and improvements to school buildings of immediate and urgent priority, relating to safety issues.
The Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth has evaluated and prioritised a list of school buildings deemed to be in need of maintenance and improvement works on the basis of specific criteria.
As part of the implementation of the President's Governance Programme, where accelerating the penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) to address energy poverty is a priority, the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry announced yesterday, following the approval of the Council of Ministers, the increase of the grant amount for the installation of a photovoltaic system in homes of vulnerable consumers and the extension of the existing "Grant Scheme to encourage the use of Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving (RES) in homes", until its smooth replacement by a new Grant Scheme, which is expected to be announced in early 2024 and which will include the new category "Photovoltaics for All". The Scheme is co-financed by the Renewable Energy and EE Fund and the Recovery and Resilience Plan, "Cyprus of Tomorrow".
The amount of the subsidy for residences where vulnerable electricity consumers reside is increased from €1,000 to €1,250 per installed kW of PV, with a maximum subsidy amount of €6,250, instead of the previous €5,000.
The extension of the deadline for receiving applications for the existing Scheme has been modified as follows.
For Category 2 of the Sponsorship Scheme (Roof Insulation in combination with the installation of a Photovoltaic System): extension of applications until 3 months after the approval of the new Sponsorship Scheme.
For Category 3A of the Grant Scheme (Installation of Photovoltaic System - General Category): extension of application submission until 3 months after the approval of the new Grant Scheme.
For Category 3B of the Subsidy Plan (Installation of Photovoltaic System in dwellings of vulnerable consumers): extension of application submission until the approval of the new Subsidy Plan.
(PM/NZ/EATH)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
