Cyprus’ tourism sector is holding the fort, keeping the economy running despite blows from the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the war in Ukraine, argue government officials, encouraged by July arrivals.

The University of Cyprus is among the top 501-600 universities in the world this year, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), also known as the “Shanghai Ranking”.

Cyprus’ economy recorded positive growth in the second quarter of 2022, according to a preliminary estimate by the island’s Statistical Service.

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday announced that the state budget for 2023 and the Medium-term Fiscal Framework (MFP) 2023-2025 are being drawn up in a dual format, one in the traditional form and one in the form of an Activity Based Budget (ABB).

Cyprus’ economy is expected to grow by more than 5% GDP in 2022; the Finance Ministry said preliminary estimates showed a 6.1% year-on-year growth in the second quarter despite the fallout from the Ukraine war.

Revolut, a British financial technology company (fintech) that specialises in digital banking, this week received approval from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) to offer cryptocurrency and digital asset services.

In June 2022, all member states registered a large annual increase in extra-EU exports except for Cyprus, which recorded a 12.2% decrease, followed by Denmark (-2.4%), according to Eurostat.

Visitor arrivals reached 454,657 in July compared with 297,308 in July 2021, an increase of 52.9%, the statistical service said on Wednesday.

The education ministry is ready for the new school year, Education Minister Prodromos Prodromou said on Tuesday.

The EU’s approval of the first Covid-19 bivalent vaccine, which will cover the original strain of the coronavirus and the Omicron variant, is expected next month, associate professor of pharmacology and member of the vaccination advisory committee, Dr Christos Petrou said on Wednesday.