Cyprus sees surplus soar in H1

Cyprus has reported a substantial budget surplus of 424.5 million euros for the first half of 2024, a huge increase from the €62 million surplus during the same period last year. This improvement is mainly thanks to a significant rise in government revenue, according to the Statistical Service of Cyprus (CyStat).

In the first half of 2024, total government revenues increased by €800.1 million, reaching €6.3 billion compared to €5.5 billion in the same period of 2023. The revenue boost mainly came from taxes on production and imports (up by €127.8 million to €2.15 billion), social security contributions (up by €286 million to €2.02 billion) and taxes on income and wealth (up by €224.9 million to €1.42 billion).

On the flip side, capital transfers and large donations decreased by €21.9 million, down to €26.3 million.

Meanwhile, the Cypriot government’s total spending also increased, rising by €437.5 million to €5.89 billion in the first half of 2024, from €5.45 billion in the same period last year.

Employee salaries and benefits increased by €203.8 million year-on-year to €1.83 billion; however, spending on big projects and investments dropped by €66.2 million to €347.2 million.