Pessimism for CY economy

According to the latest consumers survey carried out on behalf of the European Union and the Finance Ministry, five of ten Cypriot citizens are pessimistic for 2004. The survey, which was carried out on December, registers the consumers’ views on the Cyprus economy and their households.

According to the survey, 51% of the Cypriot citizens believe that the island’s economy has deteriorated for the past twelve months, while 47% is pessimistic for the prospects of the Cyprus economy in 2004. 9% have seen an improvement in economy and 10% expects improvement in the future.

Households

As regards to the Cypriot households, 12% saw an improvement in 2003 and only 7% anticipates improvement for 2004. One of three respondents estimates that the situation has deteriorated or will deteriorate.

Foreign analysts

The consumers’ estimates do not reflect the official forecasts released by the international agencies. The Finance Ministry and the foreign analysts (EIU, Standard and Poor’s) anticipate that in 2004 growth rate will reach 4%, after two years of slowdown (2%). This is mostly attributable to the partial recovery of the tourist industry, which shrunk for the past two years. The Finance Ministry estimates that tourist arrivals will show an increase of 5% and tourist income of 7% in 2004.