Breaking news

Cyprus Employee Compensation Set To Climb 6.9% In 2025 Amid Fiscal Concerns

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

November 11, 2025

Cyprus is poised to expand its employee compensation expenditure by 6.9% in 2025, reaching an estimated €4.1 billion from €3.9 billion in 2024, according to figures released by the Finance Ministry. This rise in payroll costs, which will elevate public sector wages to 11.8% of GDP, is rooted in a blend of automatic and contractual adjustments already embedded in the state budget.

Drivers Behind The Increase

The draft budgetary programme for 2026, submitted to the European Commission on October 15, outlines key factors behind the escalation. The CoLA provision contributes an estimated 1.87 percentage points, while contracts linked to the state health services organization (Okypy) add approximately 1.1 percentage points. Additional factors include a 1% annual increment and increased spending on tips contributing around 0.8 percentage points. A 1.5% general wage increase introduced in October 2024 is projected to further add an estimated 0.4 percentage points.

Follow THE FUTURE on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and Telegram

Outlook And Fiscal Implications

While employee compensation is expected to rise at a slower pace in 2026—estimated at a 4% increase to €4.3 billion—the current figures for 2025 are a cause for concern. The forecast of zero inflation for 2025 leaves the CoLA unchanged, and the absence of a base effect from the previous year’s increase tempers future growth. Notably, the wage bill as a share of GDP is expected to remain broadly stable, reaching 11.8% in 2025 and slightly easing to 11.7% in 2026.

Policy And Market Challenges

Despite the increase, recent figures indicate a significant deviation from the EU’s new fiscal regulations. With primary expenditure anticipated to surge by 7.9% in 2025—overshooting the annual ceiling of 6% by 1.9 percentage points—the outlook diverges sharply from both the Fiscal Council’s recommendations and governmental commitments under the national plan. The situation is further compounded by ongoing discussions regarding the future of CoLA. Unions are pressing for an increased payment rate starting early 2026 with a phased upward adjustment over 18 months. With salaries forming a substantial portion of primary expenditure alongside pensions, subsidies, and public investments, any new agreements would further strain an already considerable payroll.

Expert Perspectives

During a recent commentary, Michalis Persianis, President Of The Fiscal Council, cautioned that “people tend to make mistakes when conditions look comfortable,” highlighting growing concerns about the current fiscal trajectory. His earlier remarks during the opening of the 2026 budget debate likened the CoLA to an “inflationary burden on the economy,” further emphasizing the risks inherent in rising payroll costs without corresponding improvements in public service quality.

Conclusion

As Cyprus navigates the dual challenges of increased employee compensation and rigorous EU fiscal standards, policymakers face the critical task of balancing economic stability with the demands of public sector remuneration. The coming months will prove decisive in shaping the nation’s fiscal framework and ensuring sustainable economic growth.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

by News Editor

August 24, 2026

Courts Are Still Applying Old Copyright Rules To AI

AI companies train models on enormous amounts of published material, including books, articles and academic research. Whether using that content without authors’ permission violates copyright law remains unresolved.

Much of the debate centres on fair use, which allows copyrighted material to be used without permission in certain circumstances. Courts consider factors such as the purpose of the use, how much material was involved and its impact on the original market.

Follow THE FUTURE on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and Telegram

Anthropic Case Sets An Important Precedent

A major case involving Anthropic and a group of authors provided one of the clearest rulings so far. Judge William Alsup found that using copyrighted books to train AI models was lawful, comparing the process to people reading and studying literature before creating something new.

Anthropic was nevertheless ordered to pay $1.5 billion in a settlement. The penalty concerned books the company had obtained from illegal online libraries rather than the AI training itself.

For AI companies, that distinction could prove significant because it separates studying copyrighted material from directly copying it.

Competition Could Be The Key Issue

A case involving Thomson Reuters and Ross Intelligence offers a different perspective. A court ruled that Ross could not claim fair use after using Reuters’ copyrighted material to develop a competing AI-powered legal research platform.

The decision suggests courts may be less willing to consider AI training fair use when copyrighted content is used to build a product that directly competes with the original.

For authors, an unresolved question is whether AI-generated content should be considered competition for the works used to train these models.

The Law Has Yet To Catch Up

US copyright law predates generative AI by decades, leaving courts to apply old principles to new technology. Questions also remain over copyright protection for AI-generated works. In Thaler v. Perlmutter, a court ruled that material created entirely by AI cannot receive copyright protection.

Major AI companies remain involved in copyright litigation, and different courts could reach different conclusions. For now, there is no universal rule: the legality of AI training will depend on the circumstances of each case and how courts ultimately interpret copyright and fair use.