Cyprus closed out the first quarter of 2025 on a strong fiscal note, reporting a budget surplus of \u20ac580.6 million, which equals 1.6% of GDP, according to preliminary data from the Statistical Service of Cyprus. This is a modest rise from the \u20ac575.7 million surplus (1.7% of GDP) recorded during the same period in 2024.<\/p>\n
The surge in government revenue during Q1 was largely fueled by a jump in social contributions, which increased by \u20ac110.4 million (10.5%) to hit \u20ac1.162 billion. Income and wealth taxes followed closely behind, rising by \u20ac70.7 million (7.7%) to reach \u20ac985.9 million.<\/p>\n
Also making a notable leap were revenues from goods and services, which climbed by \u20ac63.2 million (29.1%) to \u20ac280.5 million. Taxes on production and imports posted a smaller, yet still positive, gain of \u20ac29 million (2.7%), amounting to \u20ac1.101 billion, with net VAT revenue nearly flat at \u20ac731.6 million (up just 0.4%).<\/p>\n
A few income sources declined. Current transfers dropped sharply by \u20ac47.9 million (40.5%) to \u20ac70.4 million, while capital transfers nosedived by \u20ac9.2 million (78%), reaching a low of \u20ac2.6 million. Meanwhile, property income dipped slightly by \u20ac1.7 million (8.1%), landing at \u20ac19.4 million.<\/p>\n
Total public expenditures stood at \u20ac3.042 billion, marking a \u20ac209.5 million increase (7.4%) compared to the first quarter of last year.<\/p>\n
A significant chunk went toward social benefits, which jumped by \u20ac110.3 million (9.4%) to \u20ac1.288 billion. The wage bill and pensions for civil servants rose by \u20ac57.1 million (6.4%) to \u20ac954.6 million.<\/p>\n
The government also ramped up capital expenditure, which soared by \u20ac59.5 million (38.2%) to \u20ac215.4 million. Within that, gross capital formation rose 13% (\u20ac19.3 million) to \u20ac168.2 million, while other capital expenses surged to \u20ac47.2 million, up from just \u20ac7 million a year ago.<\/p>\n
Despite overall spending rising, some categories shrank. Intermediate consumption (i.e., government operating costs) fell by \u20ac12.7 million (4.3%), ending at \u20ac282.4 million. Current transfers dipped slightly by \u20ac3.9 million (2%), and subsidies saw a \u20ac2 million decline (5.2%), settling at \u20ac36.2 million.<\/p>\n
In summary, Cyprus started 2025 with a strong fiscal position, supported by rising revenues in key areas like social contributions and taxes, while also increasing spending in growth-driving sectors.<\/p>\n
Source: Stockwatch<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cyprus closed out the first quarter of 2025 on a strong fiscal note, reporting a budget surplus of \u20ac580.6 million, which equals 1.6% of GDP, according to preliminary data from the Statistical Service of Cyprus. This is a modest rise from the \u20ac575.7 million surplus (1.7% of GDP) recorded during the same period in 2024. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":112759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[211],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112758"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112760,"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112758\/revisions\/112760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lamaisonestates.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}