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Cyprus Government Posts Strong Fiscal Metrics Amid Revenue and Expenditure Shifts

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

December 5, 2025

The Cyprus government has reported a robust fiscal performance for the January–October 2025 period, posting a surplus of €1.119 billion, equivalent to 3.1 percent of GDP. This figure, released by the Statistical Service (Cystat), reflects a slight contraction from the €1.3209 billion surplus, or 3.8 percent of GDP, recorded during the same timeframe in 2024.

Revenue Growth Anchored by Diversified Sources

Total government revenue climbed to €12.33 billion, marking an increase of €658.5 million (5.6 percent) compared to last year’s €11.67 billion. This surge was underpinned by notable gains across several revenue streams. Income and wealth taxes rose by €154.6 million (5.3 percent) to €3.05 billion, while social contributions experienced an 8.2 percent increase, adding €296.3 million to reach €3.91 billion.

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Property income delivered an impressive 40.1 percent boost, rising by €38.2 million to €133.5 million. In contrast, taxes on production and imports incrementally increased by 0.2 percent, reaching €3.95 billion, despite a modest decline in net VAT revenue of €24.8 million (0.9 percent) to €2.65 billion.

Additional growth was observed in the sale of goods and services, which surged by €137.4 million (18.7 percent) to €871.3 million, while capital transfers surged by an impressive 64.9 percent, adding €46.2 million to total €117.4 million. However, current transfers receded by 6.7 percent, falling by €21.9 million to €304.6 million.

Escalating Expenditures Reflect Strategic Investments

Expenditure for the period climbed to €11.21 billion, an increase of €860.4 million (8.3 percent) from €10.35 billion recorded in the same period in 2024. Key spending categories registered notable changes. Compensation of employees increased by €201 million (6.7 percent) to €3.20 billion, with social benefits rising by €299.7 million (7.1 percent) to €4.53 billion.

Intermediate consumption grew by €72.5 million (6.6 percent) to €1.18 billion, while interest payments remained stable at €358.7 million. Conversely, subsidies and current transfers contracted, with decreases of €10.7 million (8.3 percent) to €118.5 million and €10.4 million (1.6 percent) to €658.4 million, respectively.

Importantly, the capital account saw a substantive increase of €307.8 million (36 percent) to reach €1.16 billion, driven by a 12.3 percent growth in gross capital formation, totaling €822.3 million, and a doubling of other capital expenditure to €341.5 million. It is worth noting that, for several entities within the general government — particularly the local government subsector — estimates were applied due to incomplete data submissions.

This fiscal report underscores the government’s balanced approach to revenue enhancement and strategic expenditure, reflecting not only immediate gains but also a commitment to longer-term capital investments. Such measures provide a nuanced view into the evolving financial landscape of Cyprus, as policymakers navigate the interplay between revenue sources and fiscal outlays.

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Google Cloud Outage Disrupts Banking And Digital Services Across The UK

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

October 20, 2026

A power outage at a Google Cloud data centre near London disrupted services across the UK on Tuesday, affecting banks, businesses and other digital platforms. Google said the incident was caused by a power event at its cloud operations, with full recovery expected by around 1300 GMT.

The disruption began at 0608 GMT and affected Google Cloud services in the europe-west2 region, which is hosted in London. In an initial update, the company reported elevated error rates and intermittent network failures across multiple services as engineers worked to restore operations.

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Banking Services Hit By The Disruption

Revolut was among the most visibly affected companies, with customers reporting problems with ATM withdrawals, bank transfers and card top-ups. A source close to the matter linked the issues to the Google Cloud outage.

Traditional banks also reported disruptions. Lloyds said some customers were experiencing problems with its app and online banking, while HSBC confirmed difficulties accessing its services. HSBC added that it was monitoring the situation and noted that other organisations were affected as well.

Disruption Spreads Beyond Finance

Downdetector, which tracks online service disruptions, recorded hundreds of reports involving other businesses, including property website Rightmove and the Royal Mail postal service. The reports suggested that the outage was affecting multiple parts of the UK’s digital economy.

The incident highlights the risks facing businesses that depend on shared cloud infrastructure. Even a temporary failure at a single provider can disrupt services across several sectors, from banking and payments to logistics and consumer platforms.

Companies Reassure Customers

Revolut said it had been working to resolve the issue since it was identified and apologised to affected customers. The company also confirmed that customers’ money and data remained safe.

As cloud platforms underpin an increasing share of digital commerce, the outage illustrates how disruptions to critical infrastructure can spread far beyond the provider itself, affecting businesses and customers across the economy.