Cyprus’s debt-to-GDP ratio fell to 72.3% at the end of June, a decrease of nearly 10 percentage points year-on-year, according to the latest data from the Cyprus Statistical Service.
The general government debt stood at €22.81 billion, down from €23.04 billion at the end of March and €24.41 billion in June 2023, representing a 6.8% year-on-year decrease.
A €850 million European medium-term bond matured at the end of June, with another €1 billion bond due at year-end. The government issued a €1 billion 7-year bond in June to cover its €1.3 billion financing needs for the year.
Cyprus’s GDP growth, reaching 3.5% in the first half of the year, has significantly contributed to the debt reduction. This growth has already surpassed the Finance Ministry’s conservative 2.9% full-year forecast.
Following the Statistical Service’s preliminary second-quarter growth estimate of 3.7%, the Finance Ministry announced it would revise its forecast upwards in the 2025 state budget, expected to be approved by the Council of Ministers in mid-September.
These figures suggest the year-end debt-to-GDP ratio may fall below the initially estimated 70.5%, as recorded in the 2025-2028 Fiscal Strategy Framework. The Finance Ministry projects the ratio will drop below the Maastricht Treaty limit of 60% by 2026.
The debt ratio at the end of 2023 stood at 82.1%.
