CYPRUS: State budget for 2019 will produce EUR 600 mln surplus

Cyprus expects a budget surplus for a fourth consecutive year in 2019 with the state budget providing expenditure of around €7.9 bln and revenue of €8.5bln, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said Thursday.

“The strong recovery of the economy allows us to turn deficits into surpluses,” Georgiades told reporters after the Council of Ministers approved the state budget for 2019.
He said the budget surplus for 2019 will represent 3% of GDP while the GDP to public debt ratio should dip below 100% next year from 104% in 2018.
The economy is also expected to grow at a robust 3.8% of GDP next year.
The budget will be submitted to parliament for approval before the end of the year.
"The basic objective of economic policy is to consolidate development and I think that the state budget is a prerequisite for sustainable growth and avoiding deficits in the past,” Georgiades said.
"The budget provides revenue of €8.5 bln and spending €7.9 bln, generating a surplus of 3% of GDP. In 2019, growth is expected to reach 3.8% of GDP," he added.
Georgiades was adamant there would be no slackening of fiscal policy.
"There will be no fiscal slippage in any way, there is an increase in public spending in a way that allows us to promote and implement a series of new projects and a long list of infrastructure projects including eGovernment.”
Cyprus has recovered relatively quickly from a 2013 bailout and registered 4% economic growth last year.