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Thursday, 26 December 2024
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Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 12-03-02Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>CONTENTS
[01] FinMin: Foreign investor interest for Cyprus bondsA foreign investor is interested to invest amount close to half a billion euro on Cyprus bonds, Minister of Finance Kikis Kazamias has said. In statements he made to the press on Friday, Kazamias said that there are also foreign financial organizations which have shown an interest to invest in Cyprus bonds. “I am in the happy position to tell you that there is a boost in foreign investors interest to reinvest in Cyprus bonds”, Kazamias said.Replying to a question as regards information that a Chinese investor is interested to invest half a billion euro in Cyprus, he confirmed that he will be meeting with an investor later on the day, adding that “it is not the only one, there are others (interested)”. According to Kazamias, Cyprus suffers in the area of funding its public needs. Replying to a relevant question he pointed out that selling bonds is a form of loan, he added however that it is not the same case as the loan Cyprus secured from Russia which was a result of a bilateral agreement. He confirmed that this particular case has to do with the purchase of Cyprus bonds of a fixed duration. Replying to a question as to when Cyprus will be able to turn to the international markets for funding, Kazamias expressed his personal view that if Cyprus manages to return to the markets before the end of 2012, he will consider it a success. “Until then we must of course as a state manage our fiscal affairs in such a way so that no difficulty arises in funding our needs”, he added. [02] Energy by renewable resourcesSince 2008 licenses have been given to wind parks with a capacity of 165MW located in seven regions in Cyprus and currently 72 wind generators of a total capacity of 133.5 MW are operating, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Ministry Praxoula Antoniadou said speaking during the inauguration of a wind park in Larnaca district.Antoniadou said that until the end of 2011 wind parks operating on the island have contributed approximately 3.5% of the domestic electrical consumption, and that this percentage is expected to increase by the end of this year, since more wind parks are expected to operate. She noted that Cyprus has been implementing a policy to increase the contribution of renewable energy sources in the energy balance. She added that in the mid term the use of natural gas in the production of energy and elsewhere will result in reductions to the energy costs and prices as well as in pollution reduction. Antoniadou said that the government is working to boost entrepreneurship in the field of renewable energy sources. She noted that Cyprus is aiming to increase the contribution of renewable energy resources to 13% of the energy balance by 2020. [03] Fiscal deficit reached 6.01%Fiscal deficit for 2011 has reached 6.01% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounting to 1.084 billion euro, compared with a deficit of 4.91% of GDP or 850.28 million euro in 2010. According to the figures on consolidated accounts of the central government and funds under management published by the Ministry of Finance, public revenues increased in 2011 by 1.64% to 6.46 billion euro, compared with 6.35 billion euro in 2010, while public expenditure increased by 4.96% to 7.67 billion euro, compared with expenditure of 7.31 billion euro in 2010.In particular, tax revenues increased in 2011 by 3.56% to 5.60 billion euro, compared with 5.41 billion euro in 2010. Direct taxes recorded an increase of 9.69% in 2011 and amounted to 2.05 billion euro, compared with 1.87 billion euro in 2010, while indirect taxes increased by just 0.21% to 2.50 billion euro, compared with 2.46 billion euro in 2010. Income tax revenue increased by 8.44% to 1.44 billion euro, compared with 1.33 billion euro in 2010. Sales tax revenue increased in 2011 by 4.97% to 632 million euro from 602 million euro in 2010, revenue from VAT recorded an increase of just 0.06% to 1.50 billion euro, while revenues from other taxes decreased by 1.8% to 336 million. Non-tax revenue decreased by 9.36% to 855.75 million euro from 944.14 million euro in 2010. As regards expenditure, the current expenditure increased in 2011 by 5.84% to 7.13 billion euro, compared with 6.74 billion euro in 2010. Expenditure on wages and salaries increased in 2011 by 3.82% to 1.94 billion euro from 1.87 billion in 2010, payments to the Social Insurance Fund increased by 8.16% to 1.36 billion euro from 1.26 billion euro, expenditure on other current transfers increased by 3.59% to 1.94 billion euro from 1.87 billion euro in 2010, while interest expenditure recorded an increase of 17.93% and reached 535.31 million euro from 453.94 million euro in 2010. Cyprus News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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