Konstantinos Petrides, Minister of Finance of Cyprus, called on the deputies to approve the state budget for 2021, taking into account the critical moments the country faced due to the coronavirus pandemic. He explained that the draft budget was based on the assumption that the fight against COVID-19 would not require a second lockdown.

Petridis added that in the worst-case scenario, the MoF would adjust the budget as it did during the 2020 pandemic. However, he added that isolation would only be considered necessary if the country’s health system cannot cope with the increase in hospitalizations.
“We do not intend to go back to total isolation, as we did in March and April (2020), it will mean an economic disaster for us,” the minister said, adding that most EU countries have not returned to total isolation despite the second wave of coronavirus infection.

Cyprus, like most EU countries, is in the middle of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, and authorities have announced additional measures to contain the spread of the pandemic and partially isolate the cities of Limassol and Paphos, which have recorded an increase in detected infections. Budget 2021 foresees an economic recovery of 4.5% after a 5.5% contraction this year due to the Coronavirus outbreak, with the Finance Minister stressing that forecasts may be uncertain as a result of the ongoing pandemic.