The main categories of state expenditures are personnel wages, pensions, and bonuses (€3.20 billion), social benefits (€1.80 billion), and transfers (€1.36 billion), according to the fiscal report of the Republic of Cyprus for the fiscal year 2023, which was presented yesterday in the House of Representatives.
Social benefits also include the government’s contribution to the General Health Plan, amounting to €700 million.
Transfers mainly concern subsidies and contributions of the state to various organizations, such as Public Law Organizations, Local Government Authorities, the European Union, international organizations, and individuals.
The number of personnel reached its lowest point in 2015 and its highest point in 2012. However, the rate of increase in the number of personnel for the period 2013-2023 is lower than the rate of increase in wage expenditures.
Pensions and bonuses amounted to €0.75 billion in 2023 (2022: €0.70 billion), marking an increase of 7%.
The largest part of wage expenditures pertains to the personnel (educators) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Youth (36%).
This is followed by the Ministry of Health, which includes personnel expenses seconded to the GHS (13%), and the Ministry of Justice and Public Order to cover wage expenditures mainly of the police (13%).
Social benefits also constitute a significant expenditure of the state budget and include: medical care in Cyprus and abroad amounting to €48.8 million (2022: €61.6 million), emergency grants €36.5 million (2022: €35.7 million), emergency humanitarian incidents amounting to €32.7 million (2022: €336.4 thousand), and supplementary pension benefits €27.6 million (2022: €26.4 million).
The total amount of loans as of December 31, 2023, excluding intra-governmental loans amounting to €10.73 billion (2022: €9.74 billion), stood at €22.18 billion compared to €22.87 billion on December 31, 2022, of which €21.51 billion are external loans (2022: €21.49 billion).
State financing is mainly done through European Medium-Term Notes (60.64%) and loans from the European Stability Mechanism (28.40%).
Regarding the overall picture, approved expenditures amounted to €12 billion (2022: €11.4 billion).
Actual expenditures reached €10.92 billion (2022: €10.16 billion). The total revenue budget for 2023 projected revenues of €9.77 billion (2022: €8.56 billion). Total revenues were €9.94 billion (2022: €2.96 billion).
The state budget deficit according to the 2023 report was €0.98 billion (2022: €0.90 billion), marking an increase of €0.08 billion (9%).
The fiscal report includes a presentation of the revenues and expenditures included in the state budget for 2023, compared to the revenues received and the expenditures incurred during the same fiscal year, taking into account supplementary budgets and any transfers of credits.
