Major tour operators mainly from Russia have shown strong interest in extending their tourism programme to Cyprus, says the Cyprus Hotel Association ( CHA) chairman.

Christoforos Pissarides, Nobel laureate economist and head of the National Economy Council of Cyprus says the instability in the eurozone means the single currency should either be rescued through growth or be dismantled.

The 2014 state budget is focused on the reduction of expenditures, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades told parliament recently, adding that cuts will reach around 10%.

Central Bank officials recently assured that Cyprus has no plan to sell gold reserves to fund its €10 billion bailout.

Fitch Ratings says that the funding and liquidity profiles of banks in southern Europe have generally stabilised, with the exception mainly of Greece and Cyprus, where funding imbalances persist.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is putting in place two innovative instruments worth €150 million in support of SMEs in Cyprus.

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce (CCCI) welcomes Qatar Airways’ decision to schedule flights to Cyprus, reflecting the expansion of Cyprus-Qatar business relations.

The Finance Minister in his 2014 budget speech said Cyprus had avoided economic collapse, but that living standards would continue to fall for another three years.

In the period of 2010-2012 the GDP per capita expressed, in purchasing power standards (PPS) and the actual individual consumption (AIC) per capita has decreased in Cyprus.

The Cypriot economy is notexpected to return to growth before 2017, according to a winter Eurozone Forecast put together by professional services firm Ernst and Young.