Cyprus left about 289 million euros of its 2025 development budget unspent, Treasury figures presented to parliament’s Audit Committee show, with low spending rates on several major state projects and none recorded so far on others.
Of 1.48 billion euros approved for development spending, 1.19 billion euros was spent, a rate of 81 per cent, up from 69 per cent in 2024. The committee was discussing the 2025 financial report.
Accountant General Andreas Antoniades told the committee that part of the shortfall was due to delays in carrying out projects, and that work had stopped on some of them.
By the end of 2025, only 36 per cent of the funding for the new Cyprus Museum had been spent, rising to 42 per cent by June 30, 2026.
The figures presented recorded no spending so far on the Denia–Astromeritis road, the new courthouse complex or the new Central Prisons.
Fire relief
Support for people affected by the wildfire in the Limassol mountains has also been slow to reach them. Of 56.1 million euros budgeted, 17.4 million euros, or 31 per cent, had been spent by the end of 2025.
Help for households fared worse, with 6 million euros of 33.5 million euros paid out, or 18 per cent. By June 30, 2026, total spending on the support measures had risen to 23.2 million euros, about 40 per cent of the budget.
Vasilikos terminal
The committee also heard about the return of 67.2 million euros in European funding for the natural gas terminal at Vasilikos. The Treasury said it had identified other projects that were ready to go and submitted them to the European Commission in time, to limit the effect of the repayment on funding flows.
AKEL criticism
AKEL parliament member Christos Christofides said the government was failing to use higher state revenue to support the public, pointing to a “mismatch between fiscal capacity and the social policy being implemented”.
He said tax revenue reached 8.6 billion euros in 2025, up 538 million euros on 2024, while 114 million euros approved for social benefits went unused.
Although overall social benefits rose, welfare spending fell by 23.5 million euros, Christofides said, at a time when households are still struggling with the high cost of living.
He said the government should substantially strengthen social protection instead of simply recording higher revenue and surpluses, and hinted that the surpluses could be used ahead of the upcoming presidential election.
Christofides also questioned how effectively the state plans and carries out projects and uses European funding, citing the 289 million euros in unused development appropriations.
