Economic sentiment improved in Cyprus in November 2018, mainly driven by services and retail trade, the University of Cyprus said recently.

Cyprus has been upgraded back to investment grade by DBRS Ratings Limited, following recent upgrades from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

The increase of Cyprus’ capacity to absorb more funds from the pool of EU competitive programmes is a top priority, as this would increase the growth prospects of the country, Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades has said.

Bank of Cyprus recently announced an after-tax loss of €37m for the first nine months of 2018 compared with an after-tax loss of €553m in the same period las year.

Energy companies Total and ENI have applied for an exploration licence in block seven of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone, the Energy Ministry announced.

Cyprus is very close to reaching an agreement with the countries involved in the construction of the East Med pipeline to transfer natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe, a government source said recently.

A new five star hotel with sporting facilities, the Olympia Sports Resort, is planned for the Alaminos area, the press reported recently.

Unemployment in Cyprus in the third quarter of 2018 amounted to 7.8% marking a reduction of 18.7% compared with the respective period of 2017, Cyprus Statistical Service said recently.

After a record number of tourist arrivals in 2017 in the town and district of Larnaca, the local tourism promotion company is confident 2018 will end with a small increase.

Bank of Cyprus announced recently it had completed the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary bank in the UK, Bank of Cyprus UK Limited and its subsidiary Bank of Cyprus Financial Services Limited, to Cynergy Capital Limited following the receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals from the Prudential Regulation Authority and the European Central Bank.