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3 NEWS 28.4.2022 EBO, a leader in customer engagement automation that empowers enterpris- es through AI technology has entered into a strategic partnership with KPMG Cyprus, offering assistance to organi- sations by identifying and solving the challenges that stand in the way of their growth and excellence. Commenting on this strategic partner- ship, Gege Gatt, CEO at EBO said: "We are proud to engage in this relationship with KPMG in Cyprus. We believe that this is a perfect fit for our customers that need to increase their operational efficiency in rapidly changing and chal- lenging environments." Gerasimos Ntouskas, Board Mem- ber, Management Consulting at KPMG stated "we are delighted to have this op- portunity to work with EBO. Having its Financial Services Division headquar- tered in Cyprus, brought further con- fidence in our decision to strategically collaborate." "Truly human interaction, automating workflows and processing information with precision and speed is key to meet and even exceed clients' needs. We look forward to this collaboration and aim to work together, to reach technical and cultural excellence," he said. rough this partnership, both organ- isations will be able to assist companies to deal with the many challenges and opportunities that arise during digital evolution, and subsequently determine the right technologies and strategic pathways for them to enable growth. Following a holistic approach to tech- nology investment and implementa- tion, the professional teams of KPMG and EBO will assist organisations in enhancing operational efficiencies and drive business value and excellence. EBO, KPMG Cyprus announce strategic partnership FROM PAGE 1 In 2021, the government's Consolidat- ed Fund reported a deficit of €1,242.2 million, €200 million less than 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigating measures accounting for a big percentage of the deficit. By the end of 2021, total expenditure stood at €6,636.8 million, 13.3 per cent higher than the previous year. Scicluna said the government should, as early as possible, draw up a strategy to start gradually reducing the deficit even though the EU's Excessive Deficit Procedure was currently suspended and the government therefore did not face any sanctions for exceeding the 3% defi- cit threshold. e EU suspended the EDP with the onset of COVID-19 to give mem- ber states more leeway in introducing measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. "At the moment there are no rules, there is no excessive deficit procedure," he said. "So the government is at liberty to decide what it can afford." Scicluna said that, as former finance minister, he knew how important it was for the government to look ahead to the future and not wait for rules to come into effect before formulating its strategy. As to subsidies introduced by the gov- ernment on energy and commodities price, Scicluna said that government must balance the wish to protect the consumer with the need to protect and save the economy. In 2021, the government had budgeted €200 million for the rise in prices this year from COVID-19's effects on the economy. But finance minister Clyde Caruana announced in March that the war in Ukraine would cost the government at least another €200 million to protect consumers from fuel price increases and the increase in prices of cereals and grains. He said that the impact of war in Ukraine was "not small", and that "saving the economy" had once again become an existential challenge for the island. Scicluna said that the government subsidies could only stretch so far, how- ever. "It's important to protect the consum- er as much as possible, every govern- ment wants to do that," he said. "e question is, can you afford it?" Scicluna insisted that consumers must, however, also accept the reality in the event of scarcity of a resource. A price increase is a sign of that reality consumers must face. "It means the resource is scarce, please use it economically," he said. Scicluna noted that some countries in Europe were turning off heating and other services due to a drop in supply. He said this was not something enjoya- ble to experience but it was also a clear signal to consumers. "I am sure the minister is already look- ing at, on the one hand, trying to pro- tect the consumer as much as possible, but at the same time keeping an eye on the deficit and its future reduction," he said. "e later we address this problem, the bigger the challenge will be." 'The government is at liberty to decide what it can afford' The government budgeted €200 million to cushion the rise of energy prices but has since said an equal additional amount will be needed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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