Cyprus’ banks are now confronted with new challenges following yesterday’s decision by the European Central Bank to decrease the interest rate on the deposit facility by 10 basis points to -0.50%.

The first phase of Cyprus Gas Company’s (DEFA) tender process for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has triggered considerable interest from major international players such as Shell, BP, Eni and Total.

The integration process of Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB) and Hellenic Bank will be completed on September 16, a year after the acquisition of the former by the latter, without seriously affecting former CCB clients, the bank said recently.

According to a recent publication by the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Cyprus is thinking of updating its tonnage tax system and pricing policy for the registration of ships, aiming to activate specific measures in order to reinforce the competitiveness of the shipping industry.

The Cyprus Asset Management Company (Kedipes) generated income of €288.3 million in the first 10 months of operation of the state-owned asset manager, established following the sale of the former Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB) to Hellenic Bank.

Deputy Minister for Tourism Savvas Perdios said recently that a serious increase of cruise tourism was expected in Cyprus in the coming years.

The deadline to appeal a decision awarding the construction of an LNG import terminal at Vasilikos has elapsed, allowing the project to go ahead after years of successive tenders that were scrapped.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySec) on Wednesday warned investors and the public about various risks that could arise during the current period due to the extremely low-interest rates in banks.

The first Wine School in Cyprus, delivering exclusively wine qualifications is a fact.

Cyprus has fewer children per teacher in primary school education (12.6) than the EU average (14.7), according to latest Eurostat data.