Cyprus Business Now

CFA Society Cyprus and Central Bank Governor Constantinos Herodotou placed the issue of financial literacy at the centre of their discussion during a meeting held on Wednesday.

According to a statement, the meeting took place in a particularly constructive environment at the Central Bank’s offices and was attended by Alkis Hajittofis, President of the Board of Directors, Andreas Cleanthous and Marie Louroutziati, members of the Board of Directors, as well as Alexander Kappas and Stella Eliadou, CFA members.

The president and members of the CFA Society Cyprus informed the governor about their actions and priorities regarding the pressing issue of financial literacy.

Special mention was made of the society’s initiative for the education of teenagers, who may soon begin making their first financial decisions, which will ultimately have an impact on the Cypriot economy.

Moreover, CFA Society Cyprus was informed about the progress of the Ad Hoc Committee in adopting a Financial Strategy in Cyprus, which is expected to be implemented under the auspices of the Central Bank.

In addition, both parties agreed on the need to include financial education in schools, primarily targeting students who are not following economy-related matters.

It was also agreed that the CFA Cyprus, through its expertise, and the Central Bank, through conducting research and providing a dedicated space for conducting seminars, will jointly contribute to addressing financial illiteracy in Cyprus.

According to the report, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, from 2018 to the present day, CFA Cyprus conducted presentations for more than 3,000 students in public and private schools.

CFA Society Cyprus president Hajittofis expressed the organisation’s satisfaction with the initiatives and action plans of the Central Bank and the Ad Hoc Committee in combating financial illiteracy.

He also assured that the CFA Society Cyprus remains at the disposal of the Central Bank to achieve the common goal through the provision of expertise or any other assistance that may be required.

“Every initiative and action is particularly important for addressing financial illiteracy in our country,” president of the Financial Literacy Committee Marie Louroutziati said.

However, she stressed that these actions should be coordinated and brought under one umbrella to achieve the greatest possible results.

The Industrial Output Prices Index in Cyprus for April 2023 reached 140.1 units, with the base year being 2015, marking an increase of 0.1 per cent compared to March 2023, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

Furthermore, compared to the same month in the previous year, the index registered a notable increase of 11.5 per cent.

The report also highlighted the cumulative performance for the period of January to April 2023. During this timeframe, the index demonstrated a significant rise of 16.1 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2022.

In terms of sector-specific performance, the index remained stable in the electricity supply sector in April 2023, showing no change compared to March 2023.

However, both the mining and quarrying sector and the manufacturing sector experienced a modest increase of 0.2 per cent. On the other hand, the sector of water supply and materials recovery recorded a decrease of 0.6 per cent in April 2023 compared to the previous month.

Analyzing the year-on-year comparison, the report revealed positive growth in the sectors of electricity supply (28.9 per cent), mining and quarrying (17.9 per cent), and manufacturing (7.2 per cent). However, the sector of water supply and materials recovery experienced a decline of 10.2 per cent.

Within the manufacturing division, several sub-sectors exhibited noteworthy changes in April 2023 compared to the same month of the previous year.

The manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products saw a substantial increase of 18.2 per cent.

Similarly, the manufacture of paper and paper products and printing recorded growth of 9.1 per cent, while the manufacture of food products and beverages witnessed an increase of 8.8 per cent.

Additionally, the manufacture of furniture, other manufacturing and repair, installation of machinery and equipment, as well as the manufacture of refined petroleum products, chemicals and chemical products, and pharmaceutical products and preparations, demonstrated positive growth of 7.4 per cent and 5.0 per cent, respectively.

However, the manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products experienced a decline of 2.0 per cent.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Wednesday, May 31 with losses.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 109.41 points at 13:41 during the day, reflecting a decrease of 0.17 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 66.18 points, representing a drop of 0.17 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to a particularly lowly €8,228.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main index fell by 0.16 per cent, while the remaining indexes did not present any changes.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (-0.77 per cent), Hellenic Bank (no change), Petrolina (no change), and Leptos Calypso Hotels (no change).