Surplus after state cost cutting

THE GOVERNMENT has achieved a surplus of €84.3 million, or 0.53 per cent of GDP, in the first two months of the year, mainly due the drastic cut in state expenditure, finance ministry figures showed.

In the same period last year, Cyprus managed a €41.91 million surplus, or 0.25 per cent of GDP.

According to the ministry, the primary surplus (government spending less income, excluding interest paid on government debt) in January and February reached €179.8 million compared with €146.7 million last year.

At the same time, state revenues in the first two months fell 7.3 per cent to €1.07 billion compared with €1.16 billion last year.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.