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Cyprus Bailout Highlights Expensive President: Chart of the Day

By Jennifer M. Freedman

     July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Cyprus, which took over the rotating European Union presidency this week after seeking a bailout, has the costliest head of government in the 17-nation euro area after Luxembourg on a per capita basis.

     The CHART OF THE DAY shows Cyprus’s 804,435 residents will each pay almost 20 euro cents (25 U.S. cents) this year toward the 158,551-euro ($200,393) annual salary of President Demetris Christofias, who on June 25 became the fifth euro leader to request a financial lifeline. Jean-Claude Juncker’s 210,111-euro pay costs each inhabitant of Luxembourg, with the highest per-capita income in the 27-nation EU, about 41 euro cents.

     “Luxembourg isn’t odd because everybody is highly paid, but there’s no reason why the Cypriot president should be that well paid,” said Eoin O’Malley, a professor of political science at Dublin City University. “I assume in the next 12 months the president’s salary will fall significantly.”

     Euro-area finance ministers approved Cyprus’s bailout request on June 27 without specifying an amount for the rescue, which will encompass the public sector as well as banks. Cyprus is also seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund.

     Demands for austerity have forced the politicians and heads of state of the other four countries forced to ask for bailouts -- Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland -- to take pay cuts.

     “Politicians have to show some leadership, and one of the most symbolic ways is to cut pay, so I expect pay cuts will be on the cards if they have any sense,” O’Malley said of Cyprus.