President Biden proposed to reverse the 2017 Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans by raising the corporate tax rate, denying tax breaks for corporations whose CEOs earn more than million in annual compensation, and requiring billionaires to pay at least 25 percent of their income in taxes.
The federal government is set to unveil its budget on Tuesday, with experts predicting that it will come with more taxes. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has vowed to stick within her fiscal guardrails despite increasing spending commitments. Senior vice-president Robert Asselin predicts potential new taxes for large companies, larger corporate taxes, or a wealth tax on rich individuals. The government may also pair tax increases with cuts or deferring other spending. They must be cautious with spending to avoid impacting the Bank of Canada’s potential interest rate cut in June. The budget will be tabled at 4 p.m. ET.
Construction of the €1.2 bln Larnaca port and marina project is back on track after the operator and the Cyprus government reached a compromise agreement over a financial deadlock. The company agreed to provide a letter of guarantee of €4.2 mln instead of the €10 mln required by the state. Once the guarantee is submitted, construction work is expected to resume in June. Failure to provide the guarantee could result in Kition having to pay damages to the state.
The Minister of Agriculture, Maria Panayiotou, and the Deputy Director of the Forestry Department, Andreas Christou, have reported progress in reinforcing aerial firefighting means. Two tenders are currently underway for the purchase of firefighting aircraft and helicopters. The Forestry Department has been on full alert since April 1st this year, instead of May 1st, and the employment period for forest firefighters has been extended to eight months. The Forestry College will start in January 2025 for the first time in 10 years. The government has been instructed to purchase 10 aerial firefighting means over a five-year period. The Aerial Means Unit will be transferred to the National Guard. Additionally, the state mechanism is ready to address wildfires with one operational aircraft available and two tenders in progress for planes and helicopters. Cooperation with the British Bases and neighbouring countries is in place for additional aerial support.
Kition Ocean Holdings had a positive meeting with President Christodoulides regarding the Larnaca port project. As a result of the President’s intervention, initial differences were bridged, leading to an agreement for KOH to place a €4.2 million guarantee. This cooperation is expected to resolve outstanding issues and allow for the prompt commencement of construction works.
The Republic of Cyprus has decided to suspend the examination of asylum applications from Syrian nationals. This decision is based on a European mechanism activated in cases of increased migratory flows. There are currently 10,000 pending applications, and the suspension will remain in effect until specific regions of Syria are designated as safe. The government intends to exhaust all available time frames before resuming the examination of applications. The return of Syrian migrants who do not receive asylum is challenging due to the situation in Syria. There is no legal basis for excluding a specific nationality from asylum applications, according to the Cyprus Refugee Council coordinator.
The forestry department currently has a single operational firefighting plane at its disposal.
Cyprus has returned over 3,000 migrants in the first four months of 2024, which is almost a thousand more than all returns in the previous year.
Two migrant boats were spotted by Cyprus’ port police, one with 37 migrants off the coast of Cape Greco. The government has decided to no longer examine asylum applications from Syrian migrants.
Kition Ocean Holdings has agreed to renew their financial guarantee for the development of Larnaca’s port and marina. The amount of the financial guarantee under the contract is €10 million, but the consortium has currently placed €4.2 million. The guarantee is expected to be deposited in the coming days to allow the project to continue according to the contract terms. President Nikos Christodoulides chaired the meeting where this agreement was reached.