And so we got to the point where half the companies were asking for subsidies to deal with the increases in the prices of products and services. Because the recent research of the Federation of Employers and Industrialists (OEB) essentially tells us this. 49.2% of respondents see state support as part of the increase. And why not ask since this state is so large that it gives generously to whoever asks. And everything is interrelated with increases in energy prices. From transport costs, import costs and fuel costs in general.
It is a given that this state is unable to offer effective solutions because as a country we have learned to follow developments instead of planning long-term strategies. What is dangerous, however, is that we have assimilated this logic over time, with the result that we are not able to manage any negative shocks. And because we no longer live in the 1980s or 1990s when subsidies were in full swing, it is good to get used to even now and understand that economies are now highly economically interdependent. Especially for small Cyprus. It took us a long time to realize the forthcoming developments in relation to climate change and how they are expected to affect national economies as well.
Obviously, the economies that will be least affected are those that are better prepared to move to green growth, those that face fewer structural problems, fewer deficits, fewer debts, and so on. All the above and many more we do not have.
Therefore, in the coming years, if we do not run at a very fast pace to cover the lost ground, quite difficult times are coming. And before us we still have the pandemic, the rise in energy prices but also the presidential one with parochialism and populism at its zenith. If we do not want to create citizens beggars and businesses that will survive on subsidies, it is good to make decisions with short-term costs but with long-term benefits, either on a personal or collective level.
