Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides has said Cyprus can’t put the brakes on the alarming rising inflation which is a pan-European phenomenon and whose causes are plentiful – including the war in Ukraine’s repercussions.
“Unfortunately, we cannot subdue inflationary pressures, Cyprus is among the first countries that took drastic measures due to rising prices,” he also told reporters on Thursday at the end of an economic forum in Nicosia.
On the measures taken, he said that, so far, there has been government support of over €160 million through several programs. Such as reduction of excise tax, reduction of VAT from 19% to 10% horizontally and from 19% to 5% for the more vulnerable.
Moreover, there has been an 50% increase in subsidies for residents of mountainous areas due to the rising oil prices, along with emergency aid to farmers due to the state of play in the cereals market.
He also said Cyprus is one of the two countries that maintains the institution of Automatic Indicator Adjustment (ATA which compensates inflated prices by about 50%.
