Cyprus growth “not enough” without social balance, Syprodat cautions

Cyprus’ decade-long economic rebound risks being overshadowed by a deepening housing crisis that is fast becoming a social issue with “increasingly larger dimensions”, the Cyprus Borrowers Association (Syprodat)  said in a statement this week.

The association noted that the country is simultaneously on a path of strong recovery yet “in narrow social dead ends”, pointing to widening gaps between headline economic performance and the lived reality of thousands of households.

According to association, the economy has managed since 2012 to regain the ground lost during the financial crisis, with rising GDP, falling unemployment, stronger investment and an improved international credit profile, developments that together form an “optimistic course”.

Tourism, services, technology and construction have acted as the main pillars of growth.

However, it said access to affordable housing has become increasingly difficult, as both purchase and rental prices continue to soar.

This, it stressed, has turned a basic need into a daily struggle for young people, families and workers. The problem, it added, is being fuelled by higher construction costs, delays in issuing permits and the absence of a comprehensive housing policy.

Syprodat also argued that the issue is not only economic but social and developmental. The association said that for the recovery to be “sustainable and substantial”, it must be matched by social balance and justice.

Growth, it noted, cannot be measured solely by numbers, but by whether citizens can live with dignity, form families and access quality, affordable homes.

“Cyprus can move forward dynamically towards the future,” it concluded, as long as development is paired with social responsibility, equality and real prospects for all.