Central government public debt increased by €2 billion from March 31 to July 1, 2013, a period during which short term securities remained the only new market issuance activity, according to the quarterly bulletin of the Cyprus Ministry of Finance Public Debt Management Office.

The creation of a single casino resort in Cyprus will attract half a million new tourists to Cyprus and create over 3,000 new jobs, said government spokesman Christos Stylianides yesterday in response to criticism from opposition AKEL.

Cyprus has unveiled plans to grant one licence for an integrated casino resort on the island.

Property buyers not in possession of title deeds will not be responsible for paying the new immovable property tax (IPT) under the new regime, says acting head of the Land Registry Department Kleanthis Kleanthous.

International lenders continued their review of how the island was meeting the terms of its €10 billion bailout, holding meetings with the leadership of the co-operative movement.

The new team has the task of negotiating aspects of LNG plant construction and operation with US-Israeli partners.

Cyprus’ international lenders yesterday began reviewing how the island is meeting the conditions of a €10 billion bailout, to see whether the island should get the next tranche of aid.

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.