Greek Cypriot businesses net beneficiaries of Green Line

Greek Cypriot businesses appear to be the net beneficiaries of the opening of the Green Line in April 2003, as total spending by Turkish Cypriots in the south reached EUR 14.3 mln in January-September, whereas total spending by Greek Cypriots reached only around EUR 5.5 mln, according to the JCC joint venture run by the commercial banks.
The largest beneficiary of spending using Turkish credit cards in the south was supermarkets, earning EUR 3.4 mln, followed by clothing (EUR 2.8 mln), “other retailers” (EUR 2.08 mln) and DIY and household stores (EUR 2.06 mln).
In the north, the largest beneficiaries were “entertainment” (probably casinos, which are banned in the south), earning EUR 3.1 mln and hotels (probably those with the casinos), earning EUR 1.3 mln.
Data on the use of local credit cards by Greek Cypriots north of the Green Line includes the Turkish resort of Attaleia (Anatlya) but this is likely to be negligible given the smaller number of visitors involved.
Spending in other parts of Turkey amounted to EUR 1.8 mln. Istanbul has recently become a popular resort with Greek Cypriots.

Cyprus local credit card use up 20% in Jan-Sep

Meanwhile, other JCC data show that local plastic card use by Cyprus residents rose by 20% in January-September 2008 when compared with the same period of 2007, slightly slower than the 22% recorded in January-June.
According to JCC, total purchases using Cyprus-issued cards reached EUR 1.40 bln in the first nine months of the year.
Expenditure by Cyprus residents abroad rose in the same period by 28% to EUR 703.8 mln. Meanwhile, expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus was stagnant, reaching EUR 383.5 mln in January-September, compared with a 2% rise in January-June.

Fiona Mullen
www.sapientaeconomics.com