The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upwardly revised its projections on the Cypriot economy’s growth for 2018 and 2019 at the World Economic Outlook published this October, expecting a growth rate of 4.0% and 4.2% respectively.
For 2019 in particular, the IMF`s review is greater by 1.2 percentage units while for 2018 it is higher by 0.4 of a percentage unit, compared to the spring projections published last April. The international body expected then that the Cypriot economy would grow at a rate of 3.6% in 2018 and 3.0% in 2019. In 2017 the Cypriot economy grew by 3.9%.
The IMF also estimates that unemployment will gradually drop from 11.1% in 2017, to 9.5% in 2018 and 8% in 2019, compared to 10.0% and 9.1% respectively that it had projected last April.
It further projects that inflation will be recorded at 0.8% in 2018 and 1.8% in 2019 compared to 0.7% last year. In its spring projections it said it had expected 0.4% inflation for this year and 1.6% in 2019.
The IMF expects a significant drop of the current account deficit in 2018 to 3.1% of GDP compared to 6.7% in 2017. However, it projects that it will increase by 5.2% of GDP in 2019.
(Cyprus News Agency)
