The cabinet on Thursday greenlit an additional €109 million in spending for the finance ministry for fiscal year 2024, with Finance Minister Makis Keravnos saying the overall budget would remain balanced despite these funds.

The extra €109.5 million in expenditures will be offset by an equal amount in savings on spending elsewhere, the minister said.

Some of the major items in the amended budget relate to benefits of recipients of the ‘social pension’ and the minimum old-age pension (€11.9 million), raising the government contribution to the Social Insurance Fund by €11.2 million, compensating farmers for damages suffered due to bad weather (€10.5 million), an additional €9.9 million in the state contribution to the Agricultural Payments Organisation, and €8.5 million for the purchase of water from the Water Development Department.

Other items include €5 million for air conditioning units in schools, €4.3 million for subsidising long-distance bus rides for high-school students, €3 million for subsidising the cost of electricity consumption, a €2 million grant to the Cyprus Cancer Research Institute, and €.7 million to the Department of Forests.