A memorandum of understanding on relocating oil and gas firms from Larnaca by 2020 is expected to be signed after the Easter holidays, it emerged recently.

The government is in talks with the consortium of ENI-Total regarding their timetable for an appraisal, or follow-up drill at the Calypso gas prospect in offshore block 6, Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis said recently.

Despite the sizable and sustained improvement in the island’s economy, private sector indebtedness remained high, putting pressure on banks and limiting new lending, the International Monetary Fund said.

Former foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides has joined the EuroAsia Interconnector, the project developer of a 2,000MW electricity connection project between Cyprus, Greece, and mainland Europe, as chairman of the strategic council, it was announced recently.

Cyprus in 2017 generated a current account deficit of €1.3bn, or 6.7% of economic output, compared to a deficit of €888.8m in 2016, or 4.39%, the Central Bank of Cyprus said.

The government generated a fiscal surplus of €250.6m on a cash basis in the first two months of 2018 compared to a surplus of €133m in the respective period of 2017, the Finance Ministry said.

The Central Bank of Cyprus said it generated in 2017 a profit of €49.5 million compared with a profit of €74.2m in 2016 on reduced net interest income, which reduces the dividend transferred to the government’s coffers.

Cobalt Air announced it would be operating direct flights to Copenhagen, Denmark twice per week.

Bank of Cyprus has launched on a pilot basis the world’s first biometric payment card, part of a wider drive to digitise the bank’s services.

ExxonMobil’s Ocean Investigator research vessel sailed recently from Limassol port into block 10 of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to carry out hydrocarbon explorations for the US oil giant.