Χαιρετισμός Υπουργού Οικονομικών, κ. Μάκη Κεραυνού,
CIM SUMMIT 2024 – «The future of Business: Adapting to a Changing Landscape»
Σάββατο, 6 Απριλίου 2024, 09:20 π.μ.
Κεντρικά Γραφεία Τράπεζας Κύπρου, Αγία Παρασκευή
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, who unfortunately could not be present today, I will address the audience, at this important event organized annually by the CIM, the Cyprus Business School, for the last 16 years. This Summit is a great opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss, focusing on the future of businesses in a constantly changing economic landscape.
I am confident that this Summit will be once more a successful event, with a number of eminent speakers sharing their knowledge and insights with us.
Supply chain disruptions, high energy prices, high interest rates, adaptation to green and digital transition present major challenges for our businesses. Timing is also important as first movers will likely benefit the most.
Likewise, our economy is also confronted with challenges. The global economy is experiencing a period of extraordinary uncertainty following the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and the Middle East. These geopolitical developments weigh on the economic outlook and on inflation developments, creating a very challenging economic environment.
In the case of Cyprus, the Cyprus economy has exhibited strong economic performance, better than the euro area average. More specifically, economic growth for 2023 reached 2.5% and inflation dropped sharply in 2023, at 3.5% compared to 8,4% in 2022.
At the same time, Cyprus has also been fiscally prudent and able to create the necessary fiscal space, with public debt on a continuously declining trend. Cyprus’ fiscal performance and reform efforts, have been acknowledged by the rating agencies, exhibited by the fact that Cyprus is now rated as an investment grade country by all Agencies.
Recovering the investment grade rating is only a first step. We acknowledge the fact that maintaining this positive momentum requires continued action over the coming years.
As regards the prospects of the Cyprus economy, they are generally positive but surrounded by significant uncertainty, especially as regards geopolitical developments. For 2024 we project economic growth of around 2.9%, with inflation dropping further to around 2.5%.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The focus of our economic policies at least in the short term, is to alleviate, to the extent possible, the negative impact of these developments on our citizens. We have already taken a series of measures, targeting the most vulnerable groups and stand ready to adopt further measures if needed.
At the same time, we need to strike a balance between the needs of our society today, while ensuring the wellbeing of our economy for generations to come. To achieve this, our policy priorities remain focused on achieving macroeconomic stability, implementing prudent fiscal policies, ensuring financial stability and establishing a competitive, business-friendly regularity environment.
In parallel, our government’s 5 year Plan, formulated together with civil society, includes a diverse mix of structural reforms and investments which aim at enhancing the long term growth potential of the country. The strategy fully exploits the Recovery and Resilience Facility of the EU through which €1 billion was allocated to Cyprus and is fully aligned with the Long-Term Growth Strategy for Cyprus, or “Vision 2035”.
Our Plan includes actions that will lead to the diversification of the growth model of the economy, through the development of new knowledge-intensive sectors, but also the strengthening of traditionally important sectors for the Cyprus economy.
Important horizontal reforms include the modernization of the public sector, which aims at enhancing the productivity and efficiency of public services as a key enabler of growth.
The digital transition is an important catalyst in this endeavour. Our goal is to create a fully digitalised state that offers quality services to citizens, as well as to businesses. It will also facilitate the development of new knowledge intensive sectors, enabling the diversification of the economy into new growth enhancing sectors.
Moreover, we will implement a comprehensive tax reform, aiming at modernising the taxation framework, with the main pillars being the increase of the competitiveness of the Cyprus tax model, the reduction of the administrative burden for taxpayers and businesses, while providing a fairer redistribution of the tax burden.
As regards the green transition, the main objective is to meet the EU's ambitious targets through the implementation of the necessary measures including among others a number of schemes to expedite the adoption of Renewable Energy Resources, actions to promote the cyclical economy, as well as the implementation of the green taxation reform.
Moreover, a significant reform is the Strategy for attracting businesses which is currently being implemented with noteworthy success. The Strategy is a very important initiative towards attracting both international investments and talent. It includes a series of actions and reforms, such that the establishment of a Business Facilitation Unit, introduction of a digital nomad visa and revised policy for the issuance of Temporary Residence and Employment Permits to third country nationals employed in companies of foreign interests operating in Cyprus.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The prospects of the Cyprus economy are generally positive but there is significant uncertainty in the horizon.
In this context, it is important to remain vigilant, constantly monitoring and evaluating the situation. Our Government stands ready to adopt any necessary measures when and where it is warranted.
Thank you for your attention and let me wish you all success to the event.
