Bloomberg report says richest citizen could support state for a year

Cyprus’ richest citizen could support the government financially for more than a year if it went bankrupt, Bloomberg said in a report.

According to an article published on Bloomerg’s website on Monday, tiled ‘What If the World’s Richest Paid for Government Spending?’, Cyprus would receive enough to last for more than a year.

Bloomerg’s ‘2018 Robin Hood Index’, took 49 countries with various political regimes and expenditure types and the richest individuals of each of these nations and compared their net worth as of end-December 2017 to the daily cost of running each government.

In the case of Cyprus, its richest citizen, Norwegian-born oil tanker and shipping magnate, John Fredriksen, 73, could keep the government running for 441 days, the article said.

“With projected 2018 expenditures of $23.6 million, a small population and therefore smaller costs on social security and welfare, advantageous tax policies and an economy centered around tourism and services, Cyprus would benefit the longest from Fredriksen’s $10 billion fortune,” it said.

Fredriksen, number 135 on Bloomberg Billionaires Index, became a citizen of Cyprus reportedly in 2006 to avoid Norway’s heavy taxes.

China, Japan and Poland were found to be the most expensive governments to run as they would last only four days on their richest citizens’ money.

The full report may be found at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-12/what-if-the-world-s-richest-paid-for-government-spending

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.