Budget for 2022 to be tabled by end of September

The coming months, and 2022 will be crucial for ensuring the sustainability of public finances, Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides has said.

His ministry is currently working on the state budget but a date has not yet been set to put it before the cabinet due to come commitments of the president abroad, the minister told CNA.

However, he said the cabinet would begin discussions on the budget by the third week of September at the latest so that the budget can be tabled to the House by the 30th of the month.

The goal is to reduce the deficit in 2022 by 3% deficit compared to the estimated 4.7% for 2021 as the expansionary fiscal policy remains in place to mitigate the effects on the real economy and economic activity from the pandemic.

Noting that the budget data so far has not improved satisfactorily, Petrides explained that it was the government’s policy to maintain the expansionary policy, which was non-recurring (one-off) due to the pandemic, but stressed that there should be a policy of phasing this out to ensure the sustainability of public finances.