Cyprus economy shrinks 0.3 pct in Q3
The Cypriot economy contracted 0.3 percent in the third quarter, a slight improvement on a 0.4 percent dip in the previous three months, the state statistical service said on Tuesday.
This was the 13th successive negative quarter for the Mediterranean island country’s battered economy, according to a revised estimate, which had put the July-September contraction at 0.4 percent.
The latest data show that real GDP, based on seasonally and working-day adjusted data, shrank 1.8 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, compared with a November 14 estimate of 2 percent.
In the second quarter, GDP fell 2.2 percent year-on-year.
International lenders have sharply lowered their forecast for full-year performance to a negative 2.8 percent from minus 4.8 percent.
The economy contracted by 5.4 percent in 2013.
But due to bad debt and high unemployment, hovering at around 17 percent, they have cut their projections for recovery next year from 0.9 percent growth to 0.5 percent.
The statistical service said there was positive growth in hotels, restaurants, legal and accounting services and trade.
But there was negative growth in construction, manufacturing, transport, banking and other services.
[AFP]
