Finance ministry has ‘achieved all goals’ so far (Updated)

The finance ministry has “achieved all of its goals” since the current government came to power in February last year, Minister Makis Keravnos said on Monday.

Evaluating the first year of his term in office, Keravnos said Cyprus’ economy is “on a healthy course, despite the significant challenges and uncertainties” it faces, and despite the “difficult economic environment” he inherited.

He said he feels that its accomplishments have been achieved “in a very short period of time”, and that his ministry will “continue its efforts for an economic policy which will aim for a fairer distribution of income and wealth”.

He viewed as his “personal responsibility” to “maintain healthy public finances and ensure macroeconomic stability and financial stability through sensible management of the resources at our disposal to improve everyone’s living standards.”

He then referred to statistics showing positive results for Cyprus’ economy, reiterating that Cyprus’ economy is “operating at a better level than most of the European Union”.

Economic growth in Cyprus reached 2.5 per cent last year and is set to reach 2.9 per cent in 2024, far outstripping the EU average of 0.4 per cent last year.

He also pointed to inflation rates as evidence of success, saying that inflation in Cyprus dropped to 3.9 per cent last year and is set to fall to just 2.5 per cent by the end of this year.

“Based on estimates from the International Monetary Fund, we will reduce inflation and be close to two per cent much quicker than we estimated,” he said.

Additionally, he stressed the “human-centred” nature of his economic policies and added that they are “always focused on fiscal discipline and financial stability”.

This is important because “memories are still fresh of what happened when these basic parameters are exceeded”, he said, referring to the economic difficulties Cyprus faced a decade ago.

This “human-centred” nature, he said, is characterised by the fact that Cyprus now has the ninth highest minimum wage of any EU country, at €1,000 per month.

He insisted that the good news will not see him rest on his laurels, however.

“This does not mean we have solved our problems. On the contrary, we recognise the problems, the continuation of the cost-of-living crisis, the great uncertainties caused by ongoing wars in our region,” he said.

For this reason, he said, his ministry “is working on a continuous and permanent basis to find ways to deal with these difficulties, to strengthen the middle class and our businesses, and to put up a safety net for vulnerable groups.”

Looking ahead, he said he envisions the “continuous strengthening of our economy’s resilience … utilising its comparative advantages as well as our valuable human resources”.

He was asked what the government plans to do when the current round of economic measures implemented to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis expire at the end of June, he said “if there is a need to strengthen the middle class and vulnerable groups, we will act.”