Ιn December 2018, compared with November 2018, industrial producer prices fell by 0.8% in both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 and by 0.2% in Cyprus, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Legislators recently gave the government a deadline of one week to come back with clarifications on the operation of the national investment fund that is to be set up to manage future revenues from hydrocarbons.

Total new loans recorded an increase of 65.4% in December 2018 compared with the previous month, while lending and deposit rates fell further.

Unemployment decreased to 8.8% (8.5% for males and 9.1% for females) in December 2018, compared with 8.9% in November 2018 and 10.3% in December 2017, according to Eurostat.

Cyprus ranks 32nd in a new list of the safest country in the world, six places ahead of the UK, with Iceland taking the top spot.

The cabinet recently approved a bill governing an inter-state agreement with Egypt for the construction of a subsea natural gas pipeline crossing through the exclusive economic zones of the two nations.

With 90% of all jobs after 2020 requiring basic digital skills, and with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), which is estimated to cause a net loss of millions of jobs in the coming years, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said on that politically and institutionally the world was still not fully prepared to handle this challenge.

Industrial output recorded an increase of 2.2% on an annual basis in 2018, data released by the Cyprus Statistical Service show.

A recent brain storming meeting held by the newly appointed deputy minister of tourism saw more than 90 participants from all over Cyprus meet in Nicosia to discuss problems facing the industry, and how best to tackle them, according to officials.

The year ahead is expected to be challenging as it will be a struggle to attract the same number of tourists as the previous two record years where visitor arrivals reached almost four million, head of the hoteliers’ association Pasyxe Haris Loizides said recently.