Debate on state budget begins at Plenary

The plenary of the parliament begins Wednesday the debate on the state budget.

The discussion is set to begin at 1500 local time. Head of the House`s finance committee Christiana Erotokritou will present the Committee`s report on the budget and then the leaders of the political parties will deliver a speech outlining their positions on it.

According to the planning, the smaller parties will speak first and therefore they will speak as follows: Green Party, DEPA, EDEK, ELAM, DIKO, AKEL and DISY.

Cyprus state budget for 2022, provides for increased revenue and slightly reduced expenses, while an increase of 10% is recorded in development expenditure. The growth of the economy in 2022 is projected at 4%, while the budget deficit is expected to record a significant decrease and reach 1.1% of GDP.

The state budget that was submitted to the Parliament will be in deficit for another year.

Revenue, excluding financial flows, is expected to reach €6,731 million compared to revised revenue of €6,473 million in 2020, marking an increase of 4%. The most important categories of revenue are direct and indirect taxes are projected at €5,193.3 million and constitute approximately 82% of total revenue. The remaining 18% of revenue is budgeted at €1,132 million and concerns non-tax revenue such as sales of goods and services, rental rights and transfers / sponsorships.

Expenditure, excluding loan repayments, is expected to show a slight decrease compared to the previous year. Specifically, for 2022 it is budgeted at €8,408 million compared to €8,479 million in 2021.