The Cypriot economy in the first quarter of 2014 contracted by 4% year on year, registering the lowest contraction since the fourth quarter of 2012, figures released on Friday show.
According to the Cyprus Statistical Service (CyStat), on the basis of seasonally and working day adjusted data, GDP growth rate in real terms is estimated at -4.1% compared with 5.0% in the corresponding quarter of 2013.
The Cypriot economy has been contracting since the third quarter of 2011. On June 2012 Cyprus applied for a bailout to cover its financing needs and to save its two largest banks, severely hit by the Greek sovereign debt haircut and soaring bad loans. On March 2013 Cyprus and the Troika of the EC, the ECB and the IMF agreed on €10 billion bailout that featured a haircut on banking deposits over €100,000. However, the economy has been outperforming all fiscal targets set out by the Troika.
The secondary sector (industry and construction) as well as the sectors of Banks, Tourism, Transport, Trade and Services had negative contributions.