Cyprus set to return to growth this year

Cyprus is poised to return to growth later this year according to the spring forecasts issued on Tuesday by the European Commission.

The Mediterranean island, which has just exited the bailout process successfully, is projected to end 2016 with zero growth for the whole of the year, after offsetting the gross domestic product losses of the first half with gains in the second, while in 2017 it is set for 2 percent growth.

Cyprus’s national debt will amount to 105.4 percent of GDP in 2017, and the primary budget surplus will come to 2.2 percent of GDP this year before rising to 2.4 percent next year.

Brussels also anticipates an improvement in labor market conditions.