House passes bills mitigating pandemic repercussions

The House on Friday approved a wide array of bills, passing into law a wide array of bills seeking to keep Cyprus afloat as it is making its way through the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Parliament, which convened as normal on Friday at the Filoxenia conference centre, passed a bill submitted by the Finance Ministry, requiring travel agents to provide vouchers, backed by state guarantees, to consumers who were unable to enjoy the product purchased as a result of cancellations brought about by the outbreak of coronavirus and lockdown measures.

It also gave the green light for a bill amending the legislation covering income tax, in order to allow tax breaks to property owners who voluntarily reduce rental prices between 30% and 50% for a period of up to three months between July and December 2020.

A law proposal submitted by the political parties Akel, Diko, and Edek, which sought to extend the current suspension of all foreclosures until the end of September, was also passed into law.

The Cyprus parliament also passed into law 15 out of the 17 bills by the Ministry of Labour and which involve support measures to tackle the repercussions of the coronavirus crisis. The remaining two involved a bill submitted by Citizen’s Alliance MP Giorgos Lillikas seeking a mandatory reduction of rental prices but was rejected, and a bill seeking to require the registration of beauty industry workers, the vote on which was postponed.

Two of the approved bills submitted by the Labour Ministry were tabled before lawmakers for an emergency vote. One involved the extension of the period of a law already in place covering emergency support measures such as sick leave, special leave for working parents, and the unemployment benefit, until October 12.

The second law suspends the payment of social contributions instalments for the months of May and June 2020, and extends the repayment period by two additional months for debtors with overdue social contributions.