NICOSIA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The plenum of the Cypriot parliament started a three-day debate on the 2019 state budget after the government struck a deal securing the support of enough deputies to pass the budget bill, state radio reported on Wednesday.
The radio said that after initial addresses by party leaders, detailed discussion will continue until Friday night, when a vote will be called.
The budget provides for a revenue of 9.55 billion euros and an expenditure of 7.9 billion euros, leaving a surplus of 650 million euros after servicing the sovereign debt.
Expenditure amounts to about 40 percent of Cyprus's gross domestic product (GDP).
In introducing the budget in parliament, Finance Minister Haris Georgiades said the budget will sustain a 4 percent growth of GDP at the end of 2019.
Ruling center-right Democratic Rally (DISY) party, which has only 19 seats in the 56-member chamber, secured support for the budget by the 10 deputies of the opposition center Democratic Party (DIKO), after satisfying some of its demands.
These included introducing a plan to help low income people to save their mortgaged primary residence from bank foreclosure and also to reduce consumption tax on fuel by 5.95 cents per liter - leading to lower prices at fuel stations by an average of 4.5 to 5 percent as of Tuesday.
The finance ministry said the measure will cost the state up to 57.5 million euros a year.
The house plan to save mortgaged property, which has been approved by the European Union's Directorate for Competition and will be introduced as of Jan. 1, is designed to help about 15,000 borrowers to repay their non-performing loans to the banks.
It provides that the banks will cut loans by one third and the government will pay one third of the repayment installments.
The plan will help reduce total non-performing loans by 3.5 billion euros or 17.5 percent of the total, amounting to 20 billion euros.
Non-performing loans in Cypriot banks amount to 40 percent of their total loan portfolios and are among the highest in the world.
They are the legacy of a 2013 financial crisis that forced Cyprus into a 10-billion-euro bailout and a radical reform of its economy. (one euro currently equals to 1.14 U.S. dollars)
