Remote working which is widely applied in Cyprus due to the coronavirus pandemic has recorded significant advantages to the production process of the country, according to Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides.
Because Cyprus’ economy is primarily based on services where teleworking has significantly reduced the loss of working hours, he also said in a response letter sent to the House Finance Committee.
Philenews which has the letter also reported on Wednesday that the Minister noted that this is something not recorded in economies with strong industry where the physical presence of workers is a must. And where lost working hours cannot be replaced by remote working.
Moreover, Petrides also said the government’s policies have controlled the reduction of GDP to 5%, while jobs were sustained with unemployment maintained at 7.6% in 2020.
Also, the policies led to increased savings of Cypriot households by 2.4% in February this year, compared to 0.2% in the corresponding month in 2020.
At the same time, the Minister pointed out that private consumption last year decreased by -4.7% in current prices and by -3.9% in volume prices.
In fact, on a quarterly basis, private consumption increased in the first and third quarters, while the other two quarters showed a negative indication.
