Cyprus CB Sees 3% Growth

The Central Bank of Cyprus has revised upwards economic projections for the eastern Mediterranean island, expecting growth over the next three years to be an annual average of 3%.

CBC’s December Economic Bulletin, the last for this year made available, said recent economic indicators, especially for tourism, have shown a more positive trend than expected. As a result, this year’s growth has also been revised up, with the gross domestic product expected to rise close to 2.8%, NewsNow reported.

From 2017 through 2019, the country’s GDP growth is projected to be 2.8%, 3% and 3%, respectively. Cyprus was bailed out in 2013 and returned to growth in the fourth quarter of 2015. Its economy has been on the rise after recovering from a deep recession that lasted 12 consecutive quarters.

The central bank bulletin said increasing consumer demand deflation that lasted more than three years will revert to inflation, which is expected to rise to 0.9%, 1.5% and 1.6% for 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. The bulletin also said that as a result of more marked positive economic developments, employment will rise 2.1% this year and also for each of the next three years.

Unemployment, which has been the country’s largest economic problem in recent years, is expected to fall to a single-digit in two years.

Unemployment is projected to fall to 10.7% in 2017, and further to 8.8% in 2018. The increase in employment is expected to lead to a gradual rise in salaries in the private sector starting in 2017. Public sector workers will see an end to salary cuts that were imposed at the beginning of the economic crisis, but fringe benefit cuts will be retained.