Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) in the Cyprus banking system marked a €5.6 billion reduction since the end of June 2018. NPLs dropped from a total of €16.6 billion to €11.02 billion in September 2018, as Hellenic Bank acquired the performing part of the Cyprus Cooperative Bank, converting it to an asset management company.

The general government deficit rose to €1.050bn in the third quarter of 2018 as a result of the state’s divestment of the ‘good part’ of the Cyprus Cooperative Bank, the statistical office has reported.

Moody’s rating agency said the decline of non-performing exposures (NPEs) by €5.6bn, or 33.6%, stemming from the resolution of the co-operative bank (CCB) is a credit positive for the Cypriot banking system because it reduces asset quality risks and supports depositor confidence.

Inflation in Cyprus dropped to 1.0% in December 2018, down from 1.6% in November, while a year earlier the same rate was -0.4%, Eurostat said recently.

A historic high of just under four million tourists visited Cyprus in 2018, which was a 7.8% increase compared with 2017, date from the statistical service (Cystat) showed recently.

EY’s Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) practice has received two awards at the Mergermarket M&A Awards 2018 for Europe ceremony organised by Mergermarket, an independent mergers and acquisitions intelligence and data provider. The Mergermarket M&A Awards are the top accolades in the deal industry in Europe.

The total tax debts due to the state at the end of the third quarter of 2018 stood at €2.28bn, some €250m less than the second quarter of that year.

Google searches by people interested in tourism in Cyprus reach about 100 million a year, while in 2017 there was a 60% increase, according to the Google Travel Director for Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta, Orestis Andrianis.

The expertise of the Cyprus' lawyers, accountants, auditors and other specialists, often European or US trained, offer full and efficient services in all aspects of company law and tax planning, and the world’s leading accountancy and consultancy firms are all present on the island.

Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis has said that the decision to set up the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, an international organisation, was of enormous importance for Cyprus and its citizens.