Cyprus’ 2027 state budget was submitted to the House of Representatives on Thursday, 24 September. The budget was presented by Finance Minister Makis Keravnos to House President Annita Demetriou.
Keravnos said the budget creates surpluses, ensures satisfactory growth rates and reduces public debt.
“The budget is the supreme legislative act. Today, we have taken a very important step with the presentation of the budget. We have been awaiting it so that the Finance Committee can immediately begin its work,” House President Annita Demetriou said.
“It will be a difficult period until December, when the budget will be put to a vote, but we want to have this cooperation and exchange of views. At the end of the day, we want to see that the budget includes everything citizens expect, whether projects or policies" Demetriou added, and turning to the Finance Minister, she remarked that "we have work to do.”
“I am here today to present the state budget, which is a balanced budget, one that has been drawn up taking into account the many negative geopolitical developments,” Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said.
As he noted, “the goal is to safeguard our economy and, by extension, our society.”
The Minister said the budget “includes increased spending on development, is particularly people-centered, and aims to ensure that we continue to post surpluses in general government and maintain a growth rate estimated at around 2.9% despite adverse conditions.”
He stressed that the government’s ultimate goal “is for any benefits arising from economic activity and the government’s economic policy to be passed on to our society and our citizens, particularly in these difficult circumstances.”
House President Annita Demetriou agreed with the Minister, saying, “that is also our goal.”
She noted that “the reality is that we are living through a very difficult period, with external crises, so fiscal discipline is a given and must be maintained. Nevertheless, when surpluses arise, we must look at how we can help our fellow citizens who are most in need. It is a matter of priorities, and that is exactly what we will examine.”
“I am particularly pleased that our views coincide, and I am confident that we will have the cooperation we have always had with the House so that we can have the budget ready and allow our economy to continue to operate,” Keravnos said.
He noted that the budget submitted “generates surpluses, supports satisfactory growth rates and reduces public debt.”
“With the budget I have just presented to the House President, the estimate is that public debt will fall to 45.6%, creating greater fiscal space to provide even more benefits to our fellow citizens,” he said.
Asked whether the government would introduce additional social measures, Keravnos said “the government has introduced several measures to support our fellow citizens. We are closely monitoring developments, and rest assured that when the time comes and it is deemed necessary to intervene, we are fully prepared to take additional measures.”
Finally, asked about the allocation in the budget for the Great Sea Interconnector project, Keravnos said, “It is the 25 million euros that we allocate each year.”
