Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Israel are drafting an intergovernmental agreement on the EastMed pipeline with the aim of signing it in the first quarter of 2019, Greece’s Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis said recently.

The number of enterprises in 2017 reached 96.936 compared to 93.066 in 2016 recording an increase of 4.2%.

Cyprus' banking sector still faces one of the highest non-performing loan (NPL) ratios in Europe, while both private and public sectors have a large debt overhang, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report recently.

Cyprus ranked 28 out of 149 countries in a global prosperity index conducted by London-based Legatum Institute, performing best on personal freedom and safety and security, and lowest on the natural environment and education pillars.

The European Commission signed two new agreements in support of the Turkish Cypriot community, the EU scholarship programme and the support for the committee on missing persons (CMP), amounting to €5.5 million in total.

Unemployment in Cyprus in October 2018 edged up to 8.5% from 8.4% in September, but was down from 10.0% in October 2017, Eurostat said recently.

Revenue from tourism reached €378.8 million in September 2018 compared to €371m in the corresponding month of the previous year, recording an increase of 2.1%, on the basis of the results of the Passenger Survey released by the Statistical Service of Cyprus.

€13 billion in foreign deposits were removed from Cypriot banks since 2011, according to Central Bank figures.

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.