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Cyprus Fiscal Surplus Reaches €538.8 Million In January 2026

Robust Fiscal Performance In Early 2026

Cyprus recorded a general government fiscal surplus of €538.8 million in January 2026, equal to 1.5% of GDP, according to the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat). The figure is lower than January 2025, when the surplus reached €569.3 million, or 1.6% of GDP.

Revenue Gains Driven By Income And Wealth Taxes

Total government revenue reached €1.55 billion in January 2026. This represents a 1.0% increase from €1.53 billion recorded a year earlier. Taxes on income and wealth increased by €71.2 million to €657.0 million, up from €585.8 million in January 2025. Capital transfers also increased, rising to €5.2 million from €2.9 million, a 79.3% increase.

Mixed Trends In Tax Categories

Taxes on production and imports declined by €24.0 million to €363.4 million, down from €387.4 million a year earlier. The decrease represents a 6.2% decline. Net revenue from value-added tax increased by €9.2 million. VAT revenue reached €258.9 million compared with €249.7 million in January 2025, an increase of 3.7%.

Changes In Social Contributions And Property Income

Social contributions declined by €7.8 million to €423.4 million. This represents a decrease of 1.8% compared with January 2025. Property income also declined, falling to €4.9 million from €7.1 million a year earlier. The decrease represents a 31.0% drop.

Changes In Current Transfers And Service Revenues

Current transfers declined by €8.9 million to €12.1 million, compared with €21.0 million in January 2025. This represents a decrease of 42.4%. Revenue from the sale of goods and services also declined. The figure fell to €85.5 million from €101.4 million, a decrease of 15.7%.

Government Spending And Capital Investments

Total government expenditure increased to €1.01 billion in January 2026. The figure represents a 4.7% increase from €967.5 million a year earlier. Intermediate consumption increased by €10.2 million to €83.5 million, representing a 13.9% increase. Social benefits rose by 4.5% to €450.0 million, compared with €430.7 million in January 2025. Current transfers also increased, rising by 30.2% to €93.6 million.

Capital Account And Fiscal Adjustments

The capital account increased to €37.4 million from €33.2 million a year earlier. This represents a 12.7% increase. Gross capital formation increased by €0.6 million, a 2.3% rise. Other capital expenditure increased by €3.6 million to €10.4 million, representing a 52.9% increase. Compensation of employees, interest payments and subsidies declined during the period.

Data Reporting

Cystat said some fiscal data for general government entities were estimated due to incomplete submissions from certain authorities. The figures reflect fiscal developments for January 2026 based on available data from government entities.

Meta’s Muse Is Outpacing ChatGPT In Early Mobile Adoption, New Data Suggests

Meta’s new AI app, Muse, may be emerging as one of the company’s strongest consumer launches to date. Fresh estimates from market intelligence firm Apptopia suggest the app has outperformed ChatGPT in early mobile traction, at least in the U.S. and Canada.

According to Apptopia, Muse recorded more downloads in its first 12 days on the market than ChatGPT did during the comparable period after its mobile debut. The comparison, limited to the U.S. and Canada, puts Muse’s iOS downloads at 1.8 million versus 1.3 million for ChatGPT over the same initial window.

A Strong Early Start Across Platforms

In total, Muse has reached 2.8 million global installs in its first 12 days, according to the firm. The app’s momentum also appears to be holding. After debuting at No. 2 on the U.S. App Store, Muse has since climbed to No. 1, surpassing ChatGPT, according to reporting from Business Insider. Appfigures had previously estimated that Muse crossed 1 million downloads shortly after launch.

That early rise matters because app-store performance in the first days after launch often signals whether a product can sustain consumer attention beyond initial curiosity. In Meta’s case, the data suggests Muse is not simply benefiting from novelty; it is gaining ground quickly enough to challenge the category leader.

Daily Users Show Similar Momentum

Apptopia’s estimates point to another favorable comparison for Meta: daily usage. In the U.S. alone, Muse is said to have 642,000 daily active users, well above the 231,000 ChatGPT had at the same stage of its mobile rollout.

To make the comparison fairer, Apptopia also narrowed the analysis to iOS only, since ChatGPT launched on iPhone before expanding more broadly. Even under that tighter lens, Muse still comes out ahead, with 359,000 daily active users on iOS compared with ChatGPT’s earlier figure.

Why Meta Has An Advantage

Third-party estimates are not the same as internal company data, and Apptopia cannot see Meta’s proprietary numbers. Still, even directional data suggests Muse may be on track to become a meaningful consumer product for Meta.

That possibility is strengthened by Meta’s distribution advantage. The company has already demonstrated how powerful its ecosystem can be with Threads, which surpassed 500 million users after heavy promotion across Instagram and Facebook. Muse is likely to receive a similar boost, especially because it can connect across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Apptopia does not track Meta’s internal promotion strategy, but its data indicates that more than 95% of Muse users are also Facebook users, while 63% are Instagram users. That overlap underscores how effectively Meta can move users across its products when it chooses to prioritize a launch.

The Strategic Test For Meta

For Meta, the early signal from Muse is less about one app’s download count than about whether the company can turn its scale into durable AI adoption. The first test is attention. The harder one is retention.

If Muse can convert early downloads into habitual use, Meta may have found a new front door into its AI ambitions. If not, the app risks becoming another example of how easily mobile hype can spike before settling back down.

Meta, which was asked for comment, has not yet released public figures on Muse’s early adoption.

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