The government is mulling over the creation of a one-off “global casino resort” in Cyprus, expected to attract millions in investment and tourism.

Semi-government telecoms provider CyTA made a profit of €63.7m last year despite the adverse economic conditions, its chairman Stathis Kittis said yesterday.

The government hopes to save €700m of taxpayers’ money next year without implementing further pay cuts in the public sector or increasing taxes during a recession, said Finance Minister Harris Georgiades yesterday.

Cyprus’ annual trade deficit was down by €500 million during the first four months of 2013, according to Eurostat data published on Tuesday.

Despite predictions of its demise as an international business centre by its competitors and detractors, Cyprus continues to stand tall and is determined not to waste this crisis, but to turn it into an opportunity to become a more competitive jurisdiction.

After inheriting a dire domestic financial situation the way forward is not easy, but the President of Cyprus has a vision of a new state model promoting stability, efficiency and economic growth.

Italian energy company ENI will start exploratory drilling for natural gas off Cyprus in the second half of 2014, says its chief executive.

The government has stepped in to provide much-needed liquidity to the tune of €5.6m to ailing national airline Cyprus Airways (CY), it transpired yesterday.

Cyprus and Russia have reached a preliminary agreement on the restructuring of the €2.5 billion lent to the previous government in 2011, said Russian Ambassador to Nicosia Vyacheslav Shumskiy yesterday.

The house plenum managed to legislate on key items yesterday despite a number of hiccups, including a bomb scare in the afternoon that turned out to be a hoax.