Este mes de febrero, en nuestra entrevista mensual, presentamos a Constaninos Massouras, estudiante chipriota de economía en la Universidad de Copenhague.
When was the first time that you worked in Cyprus?
Well, I
started working from quite an early age, I was 14 years old when I had my first
summer job, working in a gas station at the car wash section in my hometown,
Pafos. It wasn’t an easy job for me then, because I was very young and also the
working conditions weren’t the best. We were a group of 4 people for every car
coming out from the washing machine and then we had to swipe it and clean what
was left under the hot sun of the Cypriot summer. However, summer jobs is
something quite usual for young students in Cyprus. In
contrast, finding a full time job is quite difficult because the labor market
is quite small and apart from Cypriots seeking for a job we also have a lot of
immigrants too, from Eastern European countries and the Arabic world.
Why are u studying economics?
Economics
is a very misunderstood study for a lot of people, especially in my country. An economist can give a very good
explanation about unemployment, crisis, determination of prices,
economies of scale... and he can understand the mechanics that are involved in
those. So the basic reason because I am studying economics is to be able to
understand and try to explain it to the people. We shouldn’t forget that almost everything happening in the
world has something to do with Economics.
Studying Economics in the University of Cyprus is something quite interesting and challenging. It is supposed to be a quite demanding study because it’s quite mathematically and empirically based, but for me studying Economics in UCY is a dream becoming true! Studying Economics in UCY gives you a lot of studying opportunities, and one of those is having a year in a foreign university. This is what I am doing right now, having a semester in the University of Copenhagen. Up to this point, I have seen a lot of differences in the teaching methods professors are using in Copenhagen in contrast to my home university but still the study is the same –Economics– and it’s just a matter of getting used to it. The whole experience is fantastic and the University of Copenhagen is also fantastic, so I enjoy studying here very much.
The
economic crisis in Cyprus was caused by a mixture of both bad governmental
policies and banks mistakes. As Mrs. Velkouleskou -member of Troika- said,
Cypriot officials managed to create the perfect time bomb within their economy, and I totally agree with this statement. Someone who was observing the Cyprus
economy could easily predict that sooner or later a crisis would hit the
island. Budget deficits for years, tax evasion, lack of real development in the
economy, banks extra-ordinary exposition in Greek bonds, very high interest
rates and easily given loans without strong guarantees was the picture of the
Cypriot economy the past 5 years. Today, after the closure of one of the two
biggest banks of Cyprus (Laiki Bank), after the famous bail in and a series of
austerity measures imposed by Troika, the Cypriot economy is still shrinking
but in a very lower level than the expectations (-6% instead of -8%) and
politicians support growth is coming soon. However, the NPL’s are still at a
very high percentage (50%), unemployment rate is at 16.2% and no major foreign
investments are foreseen, so things doesn’t look so good at least for the
current year as far as I am concerned.
Austerity
measures are not the only solution that could be implemented to take a country
out of an economic crisis. I believe that the EU should reconsider the way is
operating since so many southern European countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece,
Cyprus) have faced a crisis in contrast with northern European countries that
at the same time are gradually growing. The central banks of each country
should gain more power and the ECB should become more active. As about Cyprus, the
most important thing to happen right now is the market liquidity to increase,
so the economy will flourish again. People should trust Cyprus banks once again
and the government should try to attract foreign investments to import money in
the economy. Another great chapter of Cyprus economy is the discovery of the
hydrocarbons. Several confirmative drills took place in the Cypriot EEZ and the
results were quite positive. If the government can take advantage of them in
the future then I believe that the exploitation of the hydrocarbons will boost
the Cyprus economy.
Even though
I haven’t spend so much time here in Denmark to observe things in detail, I can
only say what was clear for me from the first days I spend in Copenhagen is
that the Danes are much more productive than Cypriots. They are trying to get
rid of any unnecessary bureaucracy and they even work in much more flexible
timetables than we do in Cyprus.
I think if
the EU could proceed in such a big integration it would benefit everyone. We
are now moving in 2014 but yet the EU doesn’t seem to be able to accomplish
pan-European policies. The economic growth gap between the southern and the
northern European countries is enormous and in my opinion this could be
improved through the integration.
Unfortunately
someone who really wants to do something big in his life, he won’t be able to
do it in Cyprus. I love my country and I would really like to live all my life
there but I would also like to develop myself, implement some ideas I have and
doing this in Cyprus may seem too difficult. Cyprus is a very small country,
with a very small market and a very complicated political environment because
of the Turkish invasion in 1974. Living there all your life may limit you and
in that way you might not be able to fully develop your potentials. Even my
family asked me to think about immigrating somewhere else for a better life. In
my opinion, Scandinavian countries look a very attractive destination for
someone who would like to get employed in a foreign country since both the
working and living conditions are in high standards. Innovation and
entrepreneurship is positively perceived and also some aid can be easily given.
Because of these thoughts that I am having, I choose to have my study exchange
here in Copenhagen since it would also be a crash test for me if I can adopt
the Danish way of living and blend in the society.
I still
have one more year to finish my bachelor degree in economics and then I am
thinking either in having a master degree in financial economics or if I can be
admitted to any of the “big 4” auditing companies for a professional title like
the ACA or the CFA I would prefer this. I like to think more about my present
than my future and that’s the main reason I still haven’t thought about any
more distant plans. The only thing I can tell you is that I want to go big in
my life and achieve as many things as I can, so why not becoming a future
minister of economics in Cyprus so I would be able to give something back to my
people.
And my last question, about your dreams, If you become rich, which is the dream that you would like to make real?
Hopefully when
I will become rich, a multi-billionaire, I will be able to buy my own piece of
land, an island for example in the Caribbean Sea and then I would be able to
create my own small empire, living the rest of my life there without any civil
rules and enjoying just life. Just kidding, I would donate some money in
charities, I would visit underdeveloped countries and try to invest there so I
could help people because, what’s the
purpose of having a fortune if you are not going to help other people that are
in need of even basic things?
by Xavi Molina