The Cypriot government remains optimistic about the country's ability to withstand the global financial crisis.

Finance minister Charilaos Stavrakis said the Mediterranean island is better placed to cope with the economic turmoil than many other nations.

Although he insisted that the economy will continue to expand this year, he predicted that the growth rate would be slightly down on 2008.

However, he insisted that the likely growth of 2.1 per cent must still be seen as a positive development in the current economic climate.

Mr Stavrakis commented: "This demonstrates that Cyprus can withstand the crisis much better than our other EU partners."

He added that many other member states are likely to experience a recession of zero economic growth during the next 12 months.

This comes after Athanasios Orphanides, governor of the Cypriot central bank, told the Financial Mirror that being part of the eurozone has given the Mediterranean island a protective shield throughout the worldwide turmoil.