The Government is unable to implement the development budget

Statement by Christos Christofides, AKEL Political Bureau member, on the 2018 development budget implementation

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 22 February 2019, Nicosia

The Treasury Department’s statement yesterday on the state budget implementation shows a very low implementation percentage rate of the 2018 development expenditures, the lowest percentage in recent years, which highlights the Anastasiades-DISY Government’s inefficiency.

The government and ruling forces say that Cyprus has exited from the Memorandum, but at the same time through their political decisions they remain devoted to austerity policies, leaving € 235 million unused in development expenditures and infrastructure projects. This € 235 million in infrastructure and development spending would have boosted the economy, solved problems and improved people’s quality of life.

It is clear that while there are resources available for development, they are still unused because of the government’s derisory planning. Apart from the vicious cuts they have imposed on development budgets in recent years, the government and ruling forces are unable to implement even these limited expenditures they have planned.