Recession in Cyprus accelerates to 5.9% in Q2 2013

The Cypriot economy shrank by 5.9% year on year in the second quarter of 2013, marking its eighth consecutive quarterly GDP reduction, figures released by the Cyprus Statistical Service (CyStat) show.

Taking into account the correction on seasonally adjusted data, the recession reached 5.7%. Compared with the first quarter of 2013, the economy shrank by 1.8%.
The economy’s main growth drivers, such as the secondary sector (Construction, Manufacturing), as well as in the sectors of Tourism, Banking, Trade, Transport and other Services registered negative growth rates.
The figures released today, exceed CyStat`s flash estimate released in August on a 5.7% negative growth rate.

The Cypriot economy has been hampered by recession since the third quarter of 2011. Excluded from international markets since May 2011, Cyprus requested and received a €10 billion financial assistance package from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, collectively know as the Troika. The package featured a sizeable reduction of the island`s banking sector, as well as bail-in of uninsured deposits, which hampered the services sector, one of the island`s main source of income.
The Troika estimates that the Cypriot GDP will shrink by 8.7% in 2013.