The wasted crisis of 2013
From the banking sector to public finances, Cyprus squandered the opportunities for vital economic reform It is often quoted that crises create opportunities. However, the...
Les Manison
Inadequate institutional quality damaging Cyprus economy
Government inefficiency, corruption and bad policies based on ignoring the huge amount of debt will come back to bite us By Les Manison Research...
European Commission harming Greece and Cyprus with questionable forecasts
By Les Manison The autumn 2021 forecasts of the European Commission for Greece and Cyprus are excessively optimistic particularly on inflation rates and the government...
Serious inflationary and political pressures on 2022 government budget
The government budget for 2022 presented to the House of Representatives on October 7 calls for the overall deficit to be reduced substantially from an...
Unprofitable Cypriot banks need to elevate productive lending and reduce NPL sales
By Les Manison Comparative data for 2021Q2 published by the ECB under its Single Supervisory Mechanism, reveal that the three largest Cypriot banks performed poorly...
ECB policies contributing to ultralow interest rates, inflation and inequalities
Prospects for growth in southern European countries are in jeopardy Following the global recession and the European sovereign debt crisis the ECB adopted a...
Cyprus Economy: External imbalances and outlook could cause problems
The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund National and the credit rating agency Moody’s have reported that the Cyprus Government has managed the Covid-19 crisis...
Side effects of ECB policies hindering sustained economic recovery
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis central banks substantially lowered interest rates to support the recovery of their economies. In fact, the ECB...
Policies and reforms needed to produce equitable growth
Hourly pay for managers is over five times more than for elementary workers – the highest ratio in the EU. The much-heralded Cyprus Tomorrow plan...
Coronavirus: Challenges in productively absorbing EU funds
Cyprus will not be able to take full advantage of ample EU covid aid unless it is willing to undertake major reforms In recent...
EU Covid funds must be focused on narrowing inequalities
Government’s draft recovery plan still relying too much on boosting tourism and property investments By Les Manison The recent release of national accounts, public finance...
Pandemic has deepened existing glaring inequalities
In 2019, the average salary of a civil servant was €40,000, for a private sector employee it was €20,000 While the official estimate that...
Can the budgets deliver decent government policies and reforms?
By Les Manison The state budget is the main instrument for allocating resources geared to meet the government’s policy objectives and reforms. And with the...
State budgets outdated and misdirected
Forget the political infighting, there are sound economic reasons for MPs to reject the government’s budgets By Les Manison Votes by members of the House...
Proper use of EU funds crucial to recovery
The government must realise there can be no return to ‘business as usual’ By Les Manison The impact of COVID-19 and the ongoing scandal on...
Coronavirus has exposed the vulnerabilities of Cyprus’ business model
Before the crisis of 2013, the economy was founded on huge piles of risky debt. Little has changed since then By Les Manison Prior to...
Coronavirus has exposed economic inequalities
The coronavirus and the efforts to combat its devastating impact have brought into sharper focus the inequalities, fragilities and structural weaknesses of the economy By...
Cyprus Economy: Responding to the Covid-19 Virus
By Les Manison The Covid-19 virus pandemic presents a new and unprecedented challenge to Cyprus and all nations. First and foremost it is a public...
Coronavirus: Economic impact likely to be painful and long-lasting
By Les Manison The adverse economic impact of the coronavirus is likely to be severe and prolonged with some commentators now predicting a depression in...
Effects of negative and ultra-low interest rates
In response to ECB accommodative monetary policies and persistently high levels of excess liquidity, Cyprus banks have continually effected reductions in interest rates By Leslie...
