Cyprus Fiscal Performance: Surplus And Revenue Upturn In H1 2025

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

August 29, 2025

Robust Revenue Growth Fuels Surplus

Cyprus has once again demonstrated fiscal resilience, recording a general government surplus of €840.6 million in the first seven months of 2025—equivalent to 2.4% of the nation’s GDP. While this figure is marginally lower than the €911.7 million surplus (2.7% of GDP) reported during the comparable period in 2024, it underscores a continued commitment to fiscal stability amid robust revenue generation.

Key Revenue Drivers And Trends

Total revenue for the period surged by €391.7 million or 4.8% year-on-year, climbing to €8.50 billion from €8.10 billion in the previous year. Income from taxes on income and wealth rose by 8.8%, reaching €2.03 billion, and social contributions increased 9.2% to €2.77 billion. Notably, property income nearly doubled to €113 million, while taxes on production and imports and net VAT revenue experienced modest gains.

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Shifting Dynamics In Transfers And Expenditures

Despite the strong revenue performance, current transfers fell sharply by 18.3% and capital transfers declined by 54.2%, which reflects strategic repositioning in governmental expenditure. Overall spending rose by €462.8 million, or 6.4%, hitting €7.65 billion. Increases in employee compensation, social benefits, and intermediate consumption contributed to the expenditure growth, while interest payments saw only a minor uptick. Significant capital expenditure growth was observed, with a 22.3% rise culminating in €601.2 million, driven by higher gross capital formation and other capital outlays.

Subsector Performance And Broader Implications

Differentiated performance across government subsectors further delineates Cyprus’s fiscal landscape. The central government achieved a surplus of €126.5 million, local government posted a modest surplus of €8.9 million, and the social security funds delivered a robust surplus of €705.2 million. These results highlight the effective management of public finances and set a strong foundation for addressing both short-term fiscal challenges and long-term economic objectives.

Conclusion

The preliminary fiscal results for the first seven months of 2025 reflect a complex but positive fiscal narrative for Cyprus. With revenue streams expanding and targeted expenditure management, the country is poised to maintain its economic stability and continue its trajectory towards fiscal prudence. Investors and policy makers alike should monitor these trends as indicators of Cyprus’s broader economic health and strategic fiscal direction.

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Copyright Law Struggles To Keep Up With AI Training

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.

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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.

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