According to George Georghiou, Manager of Laiki Factors in Cyprus, there is likely to be a significant growth of around 30% in total factored volume in the year 2000. This is mainly due to tight liquidity caused by a downturn in the stock market, which many entrepreneurs invested in during 1999. They now require working capital to meet their business needs. As a result of this, factoring has seen unprecedented levels of business.