A €5 million incentive scheme to boost the hiring of the long-term unemployed was unveiled by the Council of Ministers recently.

Tourism enterprises and hoteliers are trying to boost arrivals by 3% to 5% in 2014, despite a slight slowdown in April and May of this year due to the trouble between Russia and Ukraine.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed to finance Cyprus for a limited period to help the island overcome is economic problems, it was announced recently.

Credit card payments made by Cypriots in the local market increased by 12% in April 2014, compared to a year earlier, and reached €168,5 million.

The Troika has told the government it must abide by the roadmap for privatisations of semi government organisations (SGOs), which it says can be achieved by 2018, with the state also pondering about the sale of services such as the lottery.

The Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) in collaboration with the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) is organising a one day conference for Promoting Cyprus as a Fund Jurisdiction.

A new company providing air navigation services will be set up by 2015, Communications and Works Minister Marios Demetriades revealed recently.

The government has pledged a €4m cash boost for the provident funds of Cyprus Airways (CY) staff that have been made redundant, as a restructure plan foresees more layoffs in a bid to keep the carrier afloat.

Cyprus international lenders believe the rise in non performing loans (NPLs) was not justified by the economic developments on the island and are considering bringing forward the timeframe regarding reforms in a bid to contain strategic defaults.

A tripartite agreement on environmental issues, focusing on offshore research and hydrocarbon extraction and on oil pollution has been agreed by environment ministers from Cyprus, Greece and Israel, which is expected to be signed by June 2014.