The external transactions of the country deviated considerably from the targets set in the 1989-93 Development Plan. The current account balance exhibited an average deficit of the order of 1,5 million Cyprus Pounds compared to an average surplus of 22,5 million Cyprus Pounds which is the target for the five years of the Plan.

Total exports of goods expanded by an average annual rate of 5% compared to the target of 9%. This outcome was mainly due to unsatisfactory developments in domestic exports, as a result both of the low performance of agricultural exports, due mainly to problems in basic agricultural products, such as citrus fruits and grapes, and also to industrial exports which fell by an average of 4% compared to the target set for an average increase of 9%. The significantly poor result vis-a-vis the target in the exports of industrial products reflects both the structural problems of the manufacturing sector which had accumulated and led to a reduction of competitiveness of industrial exports during this period, and also the problems created by the international recession which prevailed during the last years of the Plan.

It is worth noting that a significant diversification took place regarding the geographical distribution of domestic exports, with Europe absorbing approximately 60% in 1993 as against 48% in 1988.

Source: www.kypros.org