COLA adjustment seen higher

The automatic indexing of wages to changes in inflation as measured by the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) in January is expected to increase by up to 9 percent on basic wages, probably the highest in a decade after the rate of inflation surged by 3.5 percent year on year in November.

PEO union general secretary Pampis Kyritsis said the COLA hike would be the biggest in the past 12 years, proving that price hikes were a reality that was undermining wages.This was partly caused by increases in global oil prices and Cyprus’ adoption of the euro on January 1, he said.
The new COLA increase is not the only good news for workers. From January 1, the new tax-free ceiling on wages will be £11,350. The combined increases will mean that someone earning a gross salary of CYP1,000 could net another CYP30 per month.
For those already under the tax threshold, such as someone earning CYP750 gross, COLA will net them an additional CYP17 per month.