Cyprus registered the EU’s highest decline in consumer credit and mortgage lending in January 2019, contracting 27.4% and 21.9%, respectively, DBRS said in its latest edition of the Macroeconomic Update for Europe.

Technocrats from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are back on the island for their sixth post-programme surveillance (PPS) mission.

Cyprus has been ranked 49th on the list of the world’s happiest countries, far higher than previous years, according to the latest World Happiness Report published recently.

Hoteliers recently suggested the creation of a ‘smart’ tourist state that would use technology to analyse trends and plan strategies to make Cyprus one of the world’s most attractive destinations.

President Anastasiades highlighted recently the need for structural reforms to establish a more sustainable basis for economic growth.

The European Institute of Management and Finance (EIMF), a leading provider of professional education primarily to the financial and professional services sector, is partnering up with the Blockchain Training Alliance (BTA), to provide blockchain education and certification in Cyprus.

Cyprus spent 13.1% of its GDP on social protection in 2017, below the EU average of 18.8% figures released by Eurostat recently show.

Our Law Firm noticed that during the past few months there is a growing interest by High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) from South Africa for the Cyprus Investment Program, a citizenship scheme that grants the Cypriot passport.

Tourist arrivals to Cyprus broke yet another record in February 2019 and in the first two months of the year, exceeding the number of tourists that visited the island during the same period in previous years.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said recently that the government is in talks with the European Investment Bank (EIB) over the latter’s financing of natural gas infrastructures.