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Cyprus Q3 2025 Fiscal Review: Surplus Shrinks Amid Revenue Gains And Rising Expenditure

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

January 23, 2026

Government Surplus And Revenue Overview

Cyprus reported a general government surplus of €653.6 million in the third quarter of 2025, marking a decrease from the €871.0 million surplus recorded during the same period in 2024. This figure, derived from preliminary results released by Cystat, encapsulates fiscal performance for the July–September 2025 period.

Incremental Revenue Performance

Notwithstanding the lower surplus, total government revenue increased by €104.2 million (2.6%), reaching €4.10 billion compared to €3.99 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2024. The growth was driven by several key factors:

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Social contributions surged by €62.5 million (5.7%), up to €1.15 billion.
Taxes on income and wealth experienced a modest increase of €10.9 million (0.8%), totalling €1.30 billion.
Taxes on production and imports climbed by €7.1 million (0.6%), with net VAT revenue alone rising by €40.2 million (4.8%) to €886.4 million.
Additional gains were seen in property income receivable, which increased by €3.0 million (13.5%), and capital transfers, which grew by €6.0 million to €10.8 million.
Furthermore, revenue from the sale of goods and services advanced by €15.1 million (6.1%) to reach €260.9 million.

Escalating Expenditure Patterns

The fiscal report also reveals notable increases in public spending. Total government expenditure rose by €321.5 million (10.3%) to €3.45 billion in Q3 2025, up from €3.12 billion in the previous year. This expansion in spending is detailed as follows:

Social transfers increased by €97.8 million (7.9%) to €1.33 billion.
Employee compensation, which includes imputed social contributions and pensions for civil servants, rose by €50.5 million (5.6%) to €955.6 million.
Intermediate consumption saw a slight rise of €4.5 million (1.2%) to €382.0 million.
The capital account experienced a substantial upswing, jumping by €223.7 million (84.2%) to €489.3 million, reflecting enhanced capital formation and transfers.
Conversely, property income payable dropped by €26.1 million (25.7%) to €75.3 million, while other current expenditures and subsidies declined by €16.1 million (8.6%) and €12.6 million (25.3%) respectively.

Implications For Fiscal Policy

The mixed performance in key fiscal indicators highlights a nuanced picture. The increased revenue streams underscore a growing tax base and improved collection efficiency, yet the lower surplus and rising expenditures suggest a need for balanced fiscal strategies moving forward. Policymakers must address the challenges posed by escalating public spending while leveraging the gains in revenue to sustain long-term economic stability.

Conclusion

The Q3 2025 fiscal figures for Cyprus provide valuable insights into the country’s economic trajectory, offering both promising trends and critical areas for intervention. As decision-makers refine their fiscal policies, the interplay between revenue growth and expenditure management will remain central to Cyprus’s broader economic agenda.

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.

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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.