Bank of Cyprus is on track to return to steady profits after it announced a third-quarter after-tax profit of €19 mln and a significant reduction in its non-performing loans.

Hellenic Bank saw its nine-month after-tax profits halved to €21 million, from €40 million in the same period last year, following a flat third quarter.

On the one hand the opposition parties are preparing amendments in order to reduce unnecessary, as they claim, expenses in the 2022 budget and on the other hand, the government submitted 30 amendments which will increase state expenses in the medium-term due to the establishment of several new working positions.

Citizens who are eligible for the third dose of the covid vaccine will be notified via SMS, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday.

The mining sector has a key role to play as the world transitions to a greener, low-carbon future, Euromines president and Venus Minerals’ chairman Mark Rachovides said during a panel discussion held within the framework of the European Union’s Raw Materials Week.

The uptick in economic activity this year compared to 2020 – hampered by lockdowns – has generated a substantial improvement in the government’s fiscal performance, preliminary data for January to October show.

Courting Big Tech and Fintech firms is paying off; as more companies pack their bags to set up shop in Cyprus, Eurisko Mobility, active in digital transformation, announced plans to relocate.

Unemployment has dropped to the lowest level in the last 20 years, while during the coronavirus situation the state has spent around €920 million in supporting employees and businesses, Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou said on Monday.

Bank of Cyprus CEO Panicos Nicolaou believes the island’s systemic largest lender which had hit turmoil a few years back has achieved all goals – and even more – set for 2021.

Property prices in Cyprus have bounced back by 87% compared to the first quarter of 2008, according to a recent report by the rating agency DBRS.