Cyprus-Forum.com

[Z4]

And developers are laying people off..........but this has nothing to do credit crunch does it!!!

[Bubble 'n' squeak]

And developers are laying people off..........but this has nothing to do credit crunch does it!!!

Z4, so people just like to bury their heads in the sand Like I have said before Ignorance is bliss!

[Paphitis]

And developers are laying people off..........but this has nothing to do credit crunch does it!!!

How many people have been layed off?

Can/t be all that serious as unemployment is still only 4%.

Downgrading growth from 3.5% to 2.5% is no big deal. Don't quote me on the figures.

Cypriot banking sector is secure as well, as Cypriot banks had no exposure to the sub prime market.

Cyprus is still looking pretty good.

But I understand how some expat Brits will start to panic and sell their houses. There will be plenty of Cypriot buyers waiting in the wings to take advantage of the bargains to be had.

Afterall, it is a jungle out there - Survival of the fitest. And Cypriots are pretty fit!

[CBBB]

And developers are laying people off..........but this has nothing to do credit crunch does it!!!

How many people have been layed off?

Can/t be all that serious as unemployment is still only 4%.

Downgrading growth from 3.5% to 2.5% is no big deal. Don't quote me on the figures.

Cypriot banking sector is secure as well, as Cypriot banks had no exposure to the sub prime market.

Cyprus is still looking pretty good.

But I understand how some expat Brits will start to panic and sell their houses. There will be plenty of Cypriot buyers waiting in the wings to take advantage of the bargains to be had.

The unemployment rate may be only 4%, but it very rareky wen above 2.5% a few years ago and it takes the Government months to publish the latest figures (as all the un-civil servants are so busy).

[Paphitis]

And developers are laying people off..........but this has nothing to do credit crunch does it!!!

How many people have been layed off?

Can/t be all that serious as unemployment is still only 4%.

Downgrading growth from 3.5% to 2.5% is no big deal. Don't quote me on the figures.

Cypriot banking sector is secure as well, as Cypriot banks had no exposure to the sub prime market.

Cyprus is still looking pretty good.

But I understand how some expat Brits will start to panic and sell their houses. There will be plenty of Cypriot buyers waiting in the wings to take advantage of the bargains to be had.

The unemployment rate may be only 4%, but it very rareky wen above 2.5% a few years ago and it takes the Government months to publish the latest figures (as all the un-civil servants are so busy).

Another example of how non urgent the situation in Cyprus is.

I think the lowest the unemployment rate in Cyprus ever reached was about 3.5%. I could be wrong.

Financial analysis does not interest me too much.

Good night.

[CBBB]

And developers are laying people off..........but this has nothing to do credit crunch does it!!!

How many people have been layed off?

Can/t be all that serious as unemployment is still only 4%.

Downgrading growth from 3.5% to 2.5% is no big deal. Don't quote me on the figures.

Cypriot banking sector is secure as well, as Cypriot banks had no exposure to the sub prime market.

Cyprus is still looking pretty good.

But I understand how some expat Brits will start to panic and sell their houses. There will be plenty of Cypriot buyers waiting in the wings to take advantage of the bargains to be had.

The unemployment rate may be only 4%, but it very rareky wen above 2.5% a few years ago and it takes the Government months to publish the latest figures (as all the un-civil servants are so busy).

Another example of how non urgent the situation in Cyprus is.

I think the lowest the unemployment rate in Cyprus ever reached was about 3.5%. I could be wrong.

Financial analysis does not interest me too much.

Good night.

Obviously!

[BOF]

from todays Cyprus mail:
from a meeting called by the President this is the governments take on the situation. the two areas of real concern appear to be tourism and real estate. ????
BOF



Ministers work on crisis package to beat the crunch
By Jean Christou

THE government is to draw up a series of short and medium-term measures in the coming days, to counter the possible effects of a prolonged global financial crisis, it was announced yesterday after a crisis meeting at the Presidential Palace.

Following the 90-minute meeting yesterday between President Demetris Christofias and five key ministers, spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the measures would form part of a preventive policy to address any potential impact from the crisis.

Stefanou said the plan would be finalised with a new meeting of the ministers with the President in ten days’ time.

"The government is working on an action plan that will deal with any problems which may arise if the crisis continues," Stefanou said.

He underlined, however, that Cyprus was in a much better position compared to other countries and had not been affected by the crisis.

Although the government has repeatedly stated that there is no danger to the banking system, it has acknowledged that some sectors of the real economy could feel the trickle-down effects next year if the crisis persists.

The two areas of concern are tourism and real estate, both sectors that rely heavily on foreign participation.

“It seems these two areas would probably be the most affected,” Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis said after yesterday’s meeting.

Commenting on the new measures, without revealing any details, Stavrakis said they would be diverse.

“There are measures that are more in the medium term that aim at improving the competitiveness of various sectors of the economy. But what is more important at the moment are the short-term measures, which concern next year,” he said.

"Of course it's taxpayers' money, so the various measures we are looking at have be assessed carefully, and be targetted in such a manner that will effectively deal with any likely problems."

Stavrakis reiterated the strong position of the economy, saying growth for 2008 would be 3.8 per cent, with a projected growth in 2009 of 3.0 per cent. The latter was recently revised downwards from 3.7 per cent.

''What remains to be seen is whether this global economic downturn will affect the real economy in Cyprus,” the Minister said.

“But we remain optimistic because the tight fiscal policy we have followed gives us the tools to be able to fill any gaps occurring in the economy.”

Commenting on the impact of the financial crisis on consumption, Stavrakis said he expected a fall in the rate of growth of consumption from the 15 per cent registered this year to around 5-6 per cent in 2009.

“The budget for 2009 has taken into account that consumption will decline somewhat,” he said.

This would result in a reduction in VAT to the state.

Stavrakis said consumption, which accounts for 60 per cent of GDP, depended on confidence in the economy.

That was why a daily diet of statements and debate on the situation did not serve the economy, he said.

Stavrakis said a new interest rate cut by the European Central Bank was probably on the cards in the coming week, since the reduced cost of money from the recent cut had not yet filtered down to the consumer.

He said that soon, once the markets stabilised, the interest rate cuts would filter down to businesses and households.

Yesterday’s meeting was also attended by the Ministers of Labour Sotiroulla Charalambous, Interior Neoclis Sylikiotis and Transport Nicos Nicolaides, and the Director General of the Planning Bureau Andreas Moleskis.

Meanwhile, the opposition continued to state its concerns over what it has been calling “words without action” from the government.

DISY’s Averoff Neophytou said that while he agreed that creating panic was bad for the economy, concealing the facts was equally dangerous.

“We should neither panic nor embellish the situation but we should be realistic,” he said.

Neophytou said his four concerns had not yet been addressed by the government. These were the loss of €14 billion, or 70 per cent of the value of the Cyprus Stock Exchange index since the beginning of the year, pension losses as a result of investments abroad, the drop in the real estate market and the concerns for tourism next year.
He also said the government’s prediction for 3.0 per cent growth next year was understated and forecast 2.8 per cent instead.

Neophytou said it was the opposition’s duty to highlight the problems not being publicly addressed by the government, and said we should not be waiting for the first redundancies before taking action.

“We are not alarmists, but we want to avoid risks to the Cypriot economy. We want the government properly to assess the situation and take measures,” he said, adding that one of these measures should have been a review of the 2009 budget.





Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

[SSBubbles]

The main income to the Cyprus economy is tourism... this global issue doesn't make it any better.

That was about 20 years ago. The Cypriot economy has diversified away from tourism, which now contributes about 20% to total GDP.

When I go to the town centre in Limassol nowadays, I notice far fewer British tourists around than before ... but a lot of Russian tourists, quite a lot of French/German/Belgian/Dutch visitors and a handful of Arabs.

Are these just day trippers from cruise ships I wonder?