NICOSIA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus' public debt in June dropped 3.1 percent year-on-year to 24.18 billion euros (24.9 billion U.S. dollars), the lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.

Despite the drop, the public debt still stands higher than the pre-pandemic level, the statement said.

It said the ministry had increased the public debt at the onset of the pandemic through the issuing of public bonds in a bid to support the state's liquidity and the continuation of economic activities.

The government paid billions of euros to businesses and workers as compensation during long pandemic lockdowns, mainly through 2020 and 2021.

Under the ministry's stability program for the period 2021-2025, the public debt will drop to 23.5 billion euros, or 93.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of this year.

The ministry added that the ratio of the public debt to GDP will further drop to 88.2 percent at the end of 2023, to 81 percent at the end of 2024 and to 76.7 percent by the end of 2025.

To fund the government's operations, including the servicing of the public debt, the ministry issued a 10-year European medium-term bond worth 1 billion euros at the beginning of this year and plans to borrow a further 0.5 billion euros through another European bond. (1 euro = 1.03 U.S. dollars) Enditem

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