Cyprus is experiencing the greatest deterioration in income inequality in the EU

 

AKEL on Oxfam’s Report on worldwide income inequality

Statement of Georgos Loucaides, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 19th January 2016, Nicosia

 

The exploitative nature of the capitalist system has once again been illustrated in the recent Report published by “Oxfam”, which presents evidence of the growing global income inequality.

According to the Oxfam Report, the super-rich continue to get richer and the poor poorer. The wealth of the 62 richest people in the world equals that of half of the world’s population – approximately 3.5 billion people – and has increased by 44% since 2010. Almost a third (30%) of rich Africans’ wealth – a total of $500bn – is held offshore in tax havens. This costs African countries $14bn a year in lost tax revenues, enough money to pay for healthcare that could save the lives of 4 million children and employ enough teachers to get every African child into school.

The widening inequalities and disparities highlight yet again that the causes and results of the economic crisis are an integral part of the capitalist system, whose main characteristic feature is the exploitation of people and the concentration of the world’s wealth into fewer and fewer hands.

One of the manifestations of this philosophy is also the effects we are experiencing today in Cyprus, three years after implementation of the Memorandum. The Government’s policies are transferring more and more wealth into the hands of the privileged few, resulting in Cyprus recording the greatest deterioration in income inequality throughout the EU. 90% of the many non-privileged Cypriots saw their revenues decrease significantly, while just 10% of the most privileged has seen their incomes increase over the last two years.