Government guarantees in Cyprus amounted to 15.9% of GDP in 2013 (the latest data for Cyprus). Of this total, 10.4% related to government-controlled entities and 4.9% came from public-private partnerships.

The contingent liabilities published by Eurostat include government guarantees, liabilities related to public-private partnerships recorded off-balance sheet of government and liabilities of government controlled entities classified outside general government (public corporations).

“The liabilities are contingent in the sense that they are only potential and can materialise as actual government liabilities only if certain specific conditions prevail,” Eurostat said.

“This data collection gives a more comprehensive picture of Member States’ financial positions and brings further transparency into potential impacts on public finances.”

The top five guarantees are granted by Greece (28% of GDP), Austria (26.5%), Finland (25.8%), Germany (16.4%) and Malta (16.8%).

Source: InCyprus