The European Commission decides to refer Cyprus to the ECJ for failing to adopt EU laws on minimum oil reserves – the same day the energy ministry tabled the relevant bill before parliament, a year late.

Overstaffed and overburdened with mounting debt, the Cyprus State Fair Authority (CSFA) looks set to close its doors after years of mismanagement, says its chairman Othon Theodoulou.

Cyprus still has a window to materialise plans for a land-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, after an energy major identified the island as a possible destination for gas exports from Israel’s massive Leviathan field.

Tourist arrivals in January dropped by 3.8%, compared to the corresponding month in 2013.

The number of building permits in 2013 recorded a significant drop by 25% compared to 2012, according to recent data released by the Statistical Services.

Cyprus inflation for January 2014, as measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) decreased at a rate of 1.6% according to data released recently by the Statistical Service.

The government will revise its privatisation plans if the cash it needed to raise magically appeared, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades tells lawmakers, but it will not back down on its decision to denationalise certain organisations.

Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis says Cyprus is going ahead with its plans to build an LNG terminal and that Noble Energy’s talks in Turkey with major energy firms did not affect those plans.

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt recently congratulated President Nicos Anastasiades on his personal efforts to “make this change” and end the island’s long-standing division.

New hospital fees introduced last August brought in about €12m to state coffers in the first five months of the plan, which could expedite plans for a much-delayed National Health Scheme.