Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou on Monday said there is no room for complacency over coronavirus, citing Israel, which has entered another general lockdown, as an example.

Cyprus’ economy will fare better than expected from the pandemic fallout as it is expected to contract less than 7% of GDP this year, said Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) in Cyprus rose slightly in April corresponding to 27.7% of total ones, according to latest data released by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

The Cyprus film industry has the cameras rolling again, after a challenging period during lockdown. Adaptation to the new social distancing and hygiene measure has not been easy, Dionysios Manganis, executive producer at the Nicosia-based Green Olive Films told the Cyprus Mail in an interview.

Cyprus’ economic freedom score is 70.1 making its economy the 37th freest in the 2020 Index, according to The Heritage Foundation.

Cyprus and Israel aim to cooperate for the promotion of the Eastern Mediterranean as a top cruise destination despite the temporary lack of progress due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Major travel agents from Britain and Sweden seem to be overcoming their reservations regarding the mandatory coronavirus test and are starting to bring tourists to Cyprus again, Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos said Friday, speaking before the Parliamentary Transport Committee.

Christopher Pissarides, Nobel prize laureate and professor of economics at the London School of Economics, has been appointed chairman of the economic council of EuroAfrica Interconnector, the Egypt-Cyprus electricity interconnector.

Constantinos Herodotou, Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) told Cyprus commercial banks to prepare to face a new cycle of non-performing loans in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Cypriot transport ministry has issued tougher rules for some foreigners seeking to obtain a driver’s permit, essentially linking visa status to eligibility while barring refugees with pending applications as well as introducing stricter criteria.