The debate on the latest budget of the Anastasiades government started today in the plenary session of the Parliament, which will be concluded next Thursday with the voting procedure.
The budget is the finances of our collective household. It makes a real difference to people's lives. It directly affects work, family income, improving the standard of living of every citizen.
- The budget sets our development path.
- The budget is our GHS and our hospitals.
- The budget is our schools.
- The budget is essentially our entire social policy.
This is why we want a strong economy: So that we can support and protect people, the middle class, the family, our young people, our elders.
- So that you can leave your parents' house and start your own life.
- So that you can deal with an accident or an illness with dignity.
- To be able to start your own job.
- To be able to produce national wealth and new jobs.
- To be able to find a job.
The budget is the vehicle to reach our goal, which is the dignity of every citizen. The quality of life. His standard of living. To make his everyday life better and better.
It is the tool for our ultimate goal, the well-being of every Cypriot. This is our mission.
All this together is our budget. That is why I insist on the need to keep our economy strong.
Our economy today is strong. But nothing predicts that it will be strong tomorrow. Nothing in life is a given.
Budgets are acts on paper. It is the people who give life to these acts.
We, with our abilities, with our decisions, which stem from our political positions and our political philosophy, are the decisive factor for these acts to take shape.
This is particularly important today, at a time when one misstep can be fatal.
The British adventure proved this, unfortunately, when within two days the UK economy was on the brink of collapse. A wrong intention, not even a wrong decision, threatened to bankrupt the once mighty England.
Imagine to the small and fragile Cypriot economy what irreparable damage a wrong decision can cause.
This is the great stakes for all of us: Keeping the economy and the country on a steady track. Able to cope with the difficulties that lie ahead.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This government has presented the 2023 Budget, its 10th and final Budget. A difficult starting point, since its main facts were:
- The banking crisis and the bankruptcy of the state.
- The Cypriot economy in the garbage category.
- And consequently our exclusion from the international capital markets.
- The bankruptcy and the bankruptcy of the bank and the bank's bankruptcy, which put even our existence in the euro and the European Union in question.
- The Cypriot economy in the garbage category.
- And consequently our exclusion from international capital markets.
- And Cyprus full of social grocery stores.
- With 17% unemployment
All these years, President Nicos Anastasiades, his government and the Democratic Rally have done tangible work. We have been fortunate over the last decade to have two capable Finance Ministers, Harry and Constantine.
They have managed, with discipline, determination, efficiency and the solid framework of our party's principles and positions, to reverse the misery we inherited and bring hope and perspective back to the country.
Together, we have put the economy back on its feet.
Together, we have put the economy back on its feet. We gave people back their dignity. With faith, with work, with wise economic choices, we did it. We turned the game around.
Today, in terms of the economic/investment environment, Cyprus is objectively in a better position than at any other time in the past. Despite successive crises, it has one of the strongest growth rates in the whole of Europe and a remarkable resilience.
In Cyprus we have billions of Euros invested in all sectors of the economy by very serious international institutions, while dozens of international companies choose Cyprus as a real base for their operations. Today our country is ranked among the top 10 investment destinations, with hundreds of new companies coming to Cyprus, with investments in health, marinas, education, technology and elsewhere.
- We have almost full employment conditions.[/P]
- We have almost full employment conditions.
- We have a world of projects that have transformed every city and every community for the better.
- For the first time, a comprehensive reform framework with a plan, timetable and funding has been implemented, bringing our country into the new era and improving the daily lives of every citizen. Education, Health, Local Government, Institutions, Justice. We implemented those reforms that the country needed, modernizing the institutional framework of the state and providing incentives for the development of entrepreneurship.
- With the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, innovation and digital transformation became a key political priority.
- We now have a Deputy Ministry of Tourism, with responsibility for the National Tourism Strategy.
- We now have a Deputy Ministry of Tourism, with responsibility for the National Tourism Strategy. To adapt our tourism product to modern requirements.
- We have a welfare state one and a half times bigger than ten years ago.
- Development spending one and a half times bigger than in 2013.
- Most importantly, we have a number of new structures that improve family income.
- We have the GESY, we have the Minimum Guaranteed Income, we have the national minimum wage.
- We have the national minimum wage.
- We have paying kindergarten tuition, strengthening defense and reducing military service.
- We have reducing or eliminating nearly twenty taxes and hundreds of other initiatives.
This is our, the liberal way of doing social policy. Not by creating citizens who are beggars and dependents. But, by removing a large cost from the family budget. So you strengthen independence, autonomy, in the end the dignity of the citizen and the family.
All these measures succeeded because we had security and stability as a country. Today we want to continue and develop them. To support not only the vulnerable groups, but also our young people and the middle class who bear the burden of crises every time, without hesitation.
And we are coming to the next day of Cyprus. In which we walk with a great legacy.
- The Cypriot economy is running in 2022 with a growth rate of 6.0% in real terms, that is after inflation.
- In fact it is more than double the average of both the Eurozone and the EU. which is estimated at 2.1% and 2.4%, respectively.
- The unemployment rate in 2022 is expected to fall to around 7%.
- Government debt at the end of 2022 is expected to be limited to 89.3% as a percentage of GDP, a significant reduction compared to 103.6% of GDP in 2021 and 115% in 2020.
- Government debt at the end of 2022 is expected to be limited to 89.3% as a percentage of GDP, a significant reduction compared to 103.6% of GDP in 2021 and 115% in 2020.
- Cyprus is one of the few countries that amidst unprecedented economic challenges has been upgraded by the rating agencies.
The Cyprus Tomorrow Plan, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the valuable legacy of Nicos Anastasiades, foresees the raising of 4.4 billion euros for the period 2021 - 2027.
It is the vehicle to transform the country's production model and make it more transparent, healthier and sustainable.
Through a resilient economy, with a high level of competitiveness, increased productivity and export orientation. Combined with a just and inclusive society. We emphasize:
- The new Green and Blue Economy.
- The digital transformation of Cyprus, through access to communication infrastructure for all citizens.
- The creation of 11,000 quality new jobs.
- Health.
- Education.
- Work, social well-being and inclusion.
The reforms that accompany the plan and multiply its effectiveness concern local government, justice, the improvement of state services and the improvement of the quality of life of the citizen.
My vision and goal for the next day:
- The whole state on the mobile screen within the next three years.
- The digitisation, simplification and unification of all benefits. No benefit, no assistance should be delayed for more than a month.
- A simple and comprehensive framework of support for every child up to the age of 5. From birth, feeding, nursery and kindergarten to child benefit.
- Extension of Parental Leave and Flexible Working
- Nurseries in the workplace
- Establishment of the Family Support Network
- All schools full-time
- All schools full-time.
- Establishment of the Neighbourhood Social Worker
- New Family Law
- Tackling Domestic and Domestic Violence
- Affordable Housing and Affordable Rent for young people. By producing social housing through partnerships with the private sector
- Further reform of the Minimum Guaranteed Income
- Further reform of the Pension System
- Tax-free family income of €39,000
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Citizens are concerned about tomorrow. About the great challenges we face.
You accuse us of leaving a billion euros available to the next government, while you left one month's reserves.
You accuse us of creating a billion euro cushion instead of spending it on election spending, as you would have done.
Yet this money is ammunition for the difficult battles ahead. That is our difference.
We have before us a budget that shields the country against the crisis. Which, if properly managed and implemented, will tidy up the public finances and strengthen the country's growth direction and competitiveness. And at the same time it responds to those who need support and protection.
From 1 March the country will have a new government. Citizens understand that, in the face of threats, we need a robust and decisive government. This is a general assumption regardless of political affiliation.
The security, stability and social well-being we have achieved in recent years are under threat.
- But we can endure.
- We can ensure our security and stability,
- as an economy and as a country.
- We can manage the new crisis that is already on our doorstep. And turn the crisis into an opportunity for transformation.
- We can evolve our production model to be compatible with the needs of tomorrow.
Personally, I can guarantee continued economic growth.
- At a time when Europe will enter a recession in 2023, I address the Cypriot people with great certainty and confidence and I tell my fellow citizens that Cyprus can maintain positive growth rates.
- And our ambitions do not stop there. Our aim together is to make Cyprus one of the best countries in terms of evaluation in the whole of Europe. Something that, as I said at the beginning, has direct positive consequences for every citizen, every household and every family.
- My goal is for Cyprus to be an AAA economy. In the next five years I can guarantee a reduction of the public debt to 30%.[BR]
- An AAA economy with a public debt of only 30% of GDP means at least half a billion less payments and less interest every year. It means half a billion euros every year more social and development policy. It means attracting much more investment.
- Such a policy also means a 50% increase in per capita income over the next five years. It is the best dowry for the present and future generations.
Finally, our country is asking us to use every opportunity we have to make it whole again. United and prosperous.
We will not settle for either a half or a weak homeland.
As I often say, the greatest economic and institutional reform will be the solution of the Cyprus problem, the liberation and reunification of our homeland. This must be the national challenge for all of us.
I personally propose a path that takes advantage of the circumstances.
It unlocks the negotiations by combining energy and security. Europe's challenges today. For a solution based on the agreed framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation, without guarantees and occupying armies.
I proposed that the security aspect should also become a NATO affair. And to unleash the energy potential of the region, giving Europe and our neighbourhood an alternative energy corridor.
Political positions like these make us credible. They make us stronger in the face of a lurking Turkey. With Erdogan stepping up the pressure as the elections approach.
A united Cyprus will be the jewel of the Southeastern Mediterranean. A pole of attraction for investment and a regional business, tourism and technology centre for Europe.
Reunification will be accompanied by an indescribable growth spurt. For many years we will run with double-digit growth, radically upgrading the standard of living of every Cypriot citizen, without restrictions.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Personally, I can guarantee an effective government.
- With unity and solidarity. Fair and democratic. Utilizing the best, from every corner of Cyprus. As I have always done.
- For the good of the country. For the good of every single citizen. Regardless of what he votes for or what he represents. With policies that benefit the whole.
Our fellow citizens understand the responsibility required at the ballot box.
The middle class, the pillar of society, knows that its choices will determine the future of its children. Its survival. The survival of our economy. Perhaps even our country itself.
Together we can.
In the face of the economic storm that threatens us, we put our effectiveness first.
Together we can.
To turn the crisis back into a great opportunity for our country.
Together we can.
To unite our country.
To unite our country. To bring hope.
To lead, together again, our country forward!
To win tomorrow.
Thank you."
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