NICOSIA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus has achieved an increased fiscal surplus of 215 million euros (258 million U.S. dollars), or 1.2 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in the first seven months of this year, the Cyprus Statistical Service (CyStat) said on Tuesday.
CyStat said that in the corresponding period last year, the government had recorded a deficit of 91 million euros, or 0.5 percent of GDP.
CyStat said that the surplus was the result of an increase in public revenue which rose by 12 percent to reach 4.13 billion euros in the first seven months.
The improvement of the public finances has allowed the government to spend more, ahead of the upcoming presidential election in early 2018.
The economy was also greatly benefited by record arrivals of tourists in the first half of the year.
CyStat said in a separate statement that tourist arrivals went up by 17 percent by the end of June and revenue by 20 percent in what is expected to be a boom year for the tourism industry.
