Turkish Cypriot CC spending slips 12.9% in 2009

Spending by Turkish Cypriots south of the Green Line dropped in 2009, judging by data from on credit and debit card use by the credit card company JCC Payments Systems Ltd.
Total spending using “Turkish credit cards” reached EUR 17.35 mln in 2009, a drop of 12.9% compared with the EUR 19.92 mln recorded in 2008.
The drop was pretty much across the board, with the main hit being felt by supermarkets, which saw credit card spending by Turkish Cypriots drop to EUR 3.72 mln in 2009 from EUR 4.66 mln in 2008.
The economy in the northern part of the island, which is cut off from international markets and has multiple structural problems, has been even harder hit by the global recession than the Greek Cypriot south.
However, Greek Cypriot spending in the north also fell in 2009, by 7.4% to EUR 6.82 mln, from EUR 7.37 mln in 2008.
The main reduction in spending by Greek Cypriots was on entertainment (mainly casinos), which fell to EUR 3.73 mln, from EUR 4.30 mln in 2008.