Hamit: Development Plan Largely a Copy of Economic Protocols with Turkey

During his appearance on the "Morning News with Canan Onurer" program on Kıbrıs Postası TV, Hamit answered questions regarding the current development plan.

Hamit began by assessing the development plan, emphasizing the importance of such policy documents in all healthy economies. He noted that the current plan is the shortest since the one prepared in 1993 and fails to address many of the island's unique problems.

"The majority of the development plan is a copy of the action texts of the economic protocols made with Turkey so far," Hamit said.

He stressed the lack of creativity in the plan and highlighted that it does not have an economic model. Additionally, he pointed out that the plan is inadequate in terms of social policy, unemployment, and labor productivity, suggesting that it was prepared just for the sake of being done.

Hamit remarked that the country's development has stagnated due to the dynamics of the status quo since the 1993 development plan. He evaluated the Cypriot economy within the framework of international political economy, noting that while most countries needed about a year to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, the TRNC took three years and still references COVID-19 in the current development plan.

He indicated that the inflation in the TRNC is primarily driven by internal factors and should not be attributed to international crises. He also noted that Northern Cyprus is among the worst three countries in Europe in terms of poverty and income inequality.

Returning to the development plan, Hamit emphasized that the policy document neither targets poverty reduction nor aims to increase income. Evaluating the cost of living agenda of the Northern Cyprus economy, he criticized the government's system of applying different increases to different segments of society, which deepens inequality.

Hamit expressed that foreign workers receiving lower wages despite performing the same work further accentuates the identity-based inequality in society.

Lastly, he stated that Northern Cyprus is in a very poor condition in terms of education, health, institutions, and justice, and without addressing these issues, development is neither possible nor serious.