President’s address: empty economic and social policies
In presenting his ‘State of the Republic’ address on Cyprus on January 29, President Nikos Christodoulides stressed that the goal of the policy actions to be taken in 2025 would be “to ...
Articles
Urgent need for decent tax reform and administration
The current Cyprus government is failing in addressing interrelated key economic, social and environmental issues as well as corruption by not implementing rational reforms and measures.
It is just resorting ...
Government budgets continue to serve the few and neglect the people
Government budgets are the main instrument of economic policy that determine how resources are to be allocated and collected from various interest groups. On Wednesday, MPs voted to approve the ...
Cyprus banks unwilling to fund development
By taking fixed deposits at the second lowest interest rate in the euro area at an average of 1.8 per cent and lending part of these funds at the third highest ...
Cyprus government and banks selfishly hoard wealth
In the immediate years after the Cyprus financial crisis of 2012/2013 there was a compelling need to stabilise government finances with austerity and banks with credit restraint, however, such policies have ...
Self-serving Cyprus budgets yet again
The Cyprus government’s budgets for 2025 to 2027 presented to the House of Representatives in October 2024 constitute business as usual with just a mechanical updating of the government finance estimates for 2024.
...
Open letter to MPs: extraordinary taxation on bank profits
A meeting of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives on October 7, 2024 discussed the proposal of the general secretary of Akel, Stefanos Stefanou, for the levying of a temporary ...
Management of Cyprus economy impoverishing many households
In managing the Cyprus economy, decision-makers focus on real GDP growth and whether the government is generating surpluses. Indeed, government officials backed by the European Commission, the IMF and numerous ...
Natural resource blessing or curse? The case of Cyprus
The discovery of the highly promising Aphrodite gas field in 2011 presented Cyprus with economic and political opportunities, while at the same time it risked a worsening of its already tense ...
Cyprus government’s failure to support general well-being of its citizens
Article 9 of the Constitution of the Cyprus Republic states that “Every person has a right to a decent existence and to social security”. The aim of this article is in ...
Huge failings in public projects in Cyprus
Decision-making regarding appraisal, risk assessment and management of public investment projects as well as possible partnership agreements with the private sector are taken with increasingly little consideration of the potential ...
Cyprus banks falling far short in social responsibility
Cyprus banks are failing in giving decent interest rates on customer deposits and in providing sufficient credit at reasonable interest rates to businesses and households to support balanced economic growth ...
Government policies benefit the few and neglect the many
Under the current Cyprus government its policies are increasingly serving the interests of the few rather than the needs of the many.
This is particularly the case in the management ...
Shrinking European working age population: immigration matters
The population in many areas of the world including Europe, Japan and China is ageing at a rapid rate because of declining birth rates and people living longer. In fact, ...
As wealth inequality rises in Cyprus both people and democracy suffer
It has profound socioeconomic effects, as well as political consequences in shaping the outcome of elections and policies
Cyprus is a wealthy nation; but that wealth is very unevenly divided. ...
Cyprus government and banks piling-up cash
They could do more to support economy and citizens
Over the last two years the Cyprus government has produced mounting surpluses and boosted substantially its cash balances at banks. And ...
Cyprus banks: interest rate policies harming borrowers and savers
Recent statements by Cyprus bankers that the profitable activities of banks are contributing importantly to the good performance of the Cyprus economy and that large bank profits emanate mainly from ...
Cyprus: weak tax administration and prolific tax evasion
The large magnitudes of tax evasion and tax avoidance are having a profound impact on the economy and citizens of Cyprus. Tax evasion is defined as the deliberate non or ...
Desperate need for tax reform in Cyprus
In reforming the Cyprus tax system basic conditions of adequacy, fairness, and its effective and uncomplicated administration should be met
While the Cyprus government is repeatedly advertising the good performance ...
Wealthy households, high debt and low incomes
Cypriots own a lot of property but that hides the true story
Ultimately, economics is about people. In this connection the ECB Household Finance and Consumption Surveys (HFCS) provide valuable ...
Cyprus a leader in excessive consumption
Policies and lifestyles causing environmental damage and derailing economy
Over the last 40 years the Cyprus government has relied increasingly on three main sources to generate economic growth, namely, property investment, ...
Political capitalism is thriving in Cyprus
The political elite implements policies favouring the business elite, while cementing their own status and power
Political capitalism broadly defined is an economic system in which the business elite and ...
Cyprus banks enjoying higher profits but give little back
Despite making easy money, Cyprus banks not helping economy and society
By Les Manison
Cyprus banks have benefitted considerably from the higher interest rate policies of the ECB since mid-2022, ...
Cyprus: self-serving government budgets again
The proposed Government budgets for 2024 to 2026 presented to the House of Representatives in early October 2023 are once again self-serving in that the short-term financial and political interests of the decision-making ...