Les Manison

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

Short-term patchwork government measures to deal with cost-of-living crisis and persistent inequalities are not enough By Les Manison A report by the OECD on “taxing wages” reveals that the increase ...

There are growing concerns about the recent weakening of economic activity, the persistence of inflation, and the deterioration in the government finances in Cyprus that come on top of underlying ...

Large increases in profits not due to better performance in using the funds of depositors to improve the economy Recent media reports on the performances of the largest Cyprus banks ...