Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis said he was “satisfied” with the Commission’s economic forecast and that the Cyprus economy continues to grow at a twofold pace compared to the eurozone average, adding that “this is a very significant achievement which shows the sound fundamentals of our economy”.
The Commission sees Cyprus 2008 GDP growth at 3.7% .
The European Commission pointing out however that the island will be among the few countries to be less hit, attributing this to the strength of the Cypriot economy.
Commission says that economic activity in Cyprus remained strong in the first three quarters of 2008. However, due to the worsening external environment, GDP is expected to have decelerated in the last quarter of the year, which should lead to an annual growth rate of three and a half per cent.
Economic growth is expected to slow down significantly in 2009 but still remain in positive territory, Commission estimates, pointing out that Cyprus will be one of the euro area three best performing countries in the areas of growth, unemployment and fiscal deficit.
Specifically, Commission forecast estimates that GDP will increase by 1%, while in the euro area will decline by 1.9%.
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