The assurance that the Government will operate in such a way as to absorb every euro from the European funds, so as to support the development course of the Cypriot economy, was given by the Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos.
Mr. Keravnos received the annual report of the European Court of Auditors from EAC member Lefteris Christoforou, who praised the high performance of Cyprus, which in 2022 was in the first four countries with a rate of 93% in the absorption of European funds, having also the prospect of reaching 100%, as he mentioned.
Cyprus, said Mr. Christoforou, in joint statements with Makis Keraynos, is in the first four EU countries in terms of the level of absorption of funds with a rate of 93%, with the prospect of reaching 100% when the other countries, many countries, it may still be at 70%.
He emphasized that Cyprus received more than it paid into the EU budget, amounting to €244 billion. In particular, as he said, in 2022 Cyprus contributed €209 million to the EU budget but received €458 million from European funds and an additional €158 million from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism
"Essentially (Cyprus) more than tripled the money it gets from the EU," he added.
Mr. Christoforou also characterized as particularly important that Cyprus did not have any findings regarding issues of financial management control and good management of EU money and always the error rate for Cyprus is one of the lowest, as a result of this to demonstrate how efficiently the Ministries, governments work throughout time and also the Public Service in this direction.
"I consider it a big challenge today", he concluded, "that Cyprus for the next few years will draw €3,01 billion within the framework of the Multiannual Financial Framework which together with the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism give this possibility to the Cypriot economy and society and once again the Minister of Finance clearly emphasized to us the dedication, the will and the determination of his Ministry and the Government, together with the Public Service and the Parliament to work hard towards the absorption and utilization of these funds with the most efficient way".
FINANCE: The goal is to absorb every euro
In his own statements, Mr. Keravnos said that he was pleased with what Mr. Christoforou mentioned to him, noting that the government of Nikos Christodoulidis is always amenable and welcomes any control "that helps us to operate precisely and efficiently and always within the correct contexts".
He expressed his joy as this report shows that Cyprus acts reliably as an EU member state and uses the money from the various European funds in the most correct way, but also with a particularly satisfactory rate of absorption.
"I emphasize that in this way we will continue as a Government and the Ministry of Finance to absorb every euro, in order to help even more the path of development of the Cypriot economy", said the Minister of Finance.
In conclusion, Mr. Keravnos thanked those who participate in this effort and especially the House of Representatives.
Source: KYPE