We will deliver an economy built on solid foundations and a state apparatus ready to respond to any unforeseen crises, the President of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades said on Monday, addressing the 95th Annual General Meeting of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Monday.
Referring to the new crisis that arose after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, combined with the health crisis that preceded it, President Anastasiades said “I want you to feel safe” as it is a crisis “that we are facing, just like the previous ones, with the same seriousness and responsibility”, and expressed the view that the next President will also follow with the same seriousness and responsibility.
“I feel really proud”, he said, because “we are handing over to the incoming President of the Republic a very different reality than what we had before us when we came to power”, noting that he is handing over a healthy and robust economy, despite the three crises faced during his Presidency. He added that this is confirmed by international rating agencies, European institutions and statistics.
The President highlighted the decrease of the public debt to 89.3% this year and predicted a further reduction to 83.3% in 2023. Regarding unemployment, the President noted that it has decreased to 7%, while a further reduction to 6.4% is predicted in 2023. Furthermore, the President highlighted the continuous upgrading of the long-term and short-term creditworthiness of Cyprus by the international rating agencies. “Just yesterday, a new report was announced. It once again confirms, along with the other rating agencies, the reliability and solvency of the Cypriot economy and the correct path of the fiscal policy”, he noted.
President Anastasiades underlined the policies aimed to transform Cyprus into a sustainable business and commercial center of the Mediterranean. He referred to the package of attractive tax and other incentives, which is reinforced by the new national strategy for attracting businesses to operate or expand their activities in Cyprus. He noted that, as a result of these, Cyprus moved from 68th position to 18th, in the Greenfield FDI Performance Index, marking the largest increase of all countries.
He underlined that in the first half of 2022, foreign direct investment in Cyprus increased by 60% compared to pre-pandemic levels, while investment in software and IT increased by an impressive 600% compared to 2019.
Referring to the “Cyprus-Tomorrow” recovery and resilience plan, the President noted that it is a plan which constitutes the largest reform and development intervention since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus. He noted that it includes 58 reform and 75 investment actions and reiterated that it is planned to raise an amount of €4.4 billion for the period 2021 – 2026, while it is expected to add an additional 7% to GDP, while creating 11,000 well-paid jobs.
“I am really proud, because, despite the multiple challenges we have faced, in two months we will deliver an economy built on solid foundations and a state apparatus ready to respond to any unforeseen crises”, the President concluded.
In his speech, the Vice President of Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Othonas Theodoulou, presented what CCCI considers as great challenges for the economy in 2023 and called for changes in the pension system and the General Healthcare System, while criticizing the trade unions for their positions on the issues of the minimum wage and COLA. He also expressed CCCI’s concerns on the continuous rise of interest rates, noting that they will place new burdens on the real economy, households and businesses.
“CCCI insists that without a modern, efficient and financially sound state, we cannot have a healthy economy, growth and new investments”, he said, noting a series of reforms the CCCI wants completed. Among them are the full utilization of the RRF, the restraint of public expenditure and especially the state payroll, the reduction of public debt, cutting red tape in the public sector and the acceleration of the digital transformation of the state and the economy.
Theodoulou continued to express CCCI’s position on the energy sector, the migration issue and the pensions system and he went on to underline that CCCI will not consent to the complete reinstatement of COLA, proposing its replacement with “a new modern system, connecting wage increases with indicators such as productivity and efficiency and GDP growth.
Source: Cyprus News Agency