A strong vote of confidence in the strength and outlook of the Cypriot economy: that is what Standard & Poor’s upgrade of the Republic of Cyprus’s credit rating, from “A-” to “A”, amounts to.
Our country returns to the “A” grade for the first time since 2011, and that matters. As the President of the Republic put it, this is “a strong vote of confidence in our economic responsibility, in our high growth rates, in historically low unemployment, in the major reduction of public debt.”
This upgrade is not just numbers and indicators. It has to leave a real mark on citizens’ everyday lives. At the same time, the economy must keep being safeguarded. As the President also noted, a stronger economy means, in practice, more and better-paid jobs, investment, new opportunities and targeted social policies. It also means more investment in Health, Education, the Welfare State and Housing.
Every upgrade to the economy must leave its mark on society. Citizens must feel it, through an improved standard of living, through targeted policies.
There must, however, be no complacency. Responsible management is needed. This means the country needs to keep taking steady, deliberate steps forward. The economy is shaped by various factors. Internal factors are chiefly a matter of management, planning and the policies pursued. External factors, such as wars and energy and other crises, are largely beyond our control to prevent. Even so, what matters in these cases is having the tools to deal with whatever impact they bring, and managing them properly. Foresight and prevention matter too.
It clearly matters a great deal that the Cypriot economy now sits only one notch below the highest rating it has ever held from S&P (A+). That is why the announcement was welcomed.
It is clear that this is hard to earn and easy to lose. That is why fiscal discipline and prudent economic policy must continue.
And all this comes as wars rage across our region. That is why this development matters, for the country and the economy, for citizens and for society. We will repeat the obvious, nonetheless. Citizens must feel this economic upgrade. And they will feel it through, for example, how the cost of living is tackled.
