Cyprus tax payments push up card spending in March

Online tax payments pushed up plastic card payments by 18% compared with the year earlier to EUR 179,861,377 (EUR 180 mln) in March, according to JCC payments systems, the dominant card provider.
In the first quarter of the year as a whole, card payments rose by 13% to EUR 591 mln, compared with an increase of 11% in the first two months of the year.
Spending by Cypriots abroad rose by 10% to EUR 336.9 mln in the first three months of the year, despite a modest increase in outbound tourism. This may be because the data on card spending abroad also include internet purchases from abroad.
Spending by foreigners in Cyprus rose by 7% to EUR 69.5 mln. Total revenue from tourism fell by 6.5% over the year earlier in January-February.
www.sapientaeconomics.com