The number of property transactions rose in October 21% to 768 compared with the respective month of 2016, driven mainly by a strong showing in Nicosia and Paphos, the Department of Lands and Surveys said.

Consumer prices rose in October 2017 by 0.1% compared to the respective month of 2016 as cheaper manufactured products offset the impact of less affordable energy products, agricultural produce and services, the statistical service said.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said that five years after Cyprus experienced its worst banking and fiscal crisis since 1974, “the glass is more than half-full”.

The General Manager of the Cyprus Hydrocarbon Company (CHC), Panos Kelamis, appears optimistic about Cyprus’ energy prospects, pointing out at the same time that the situation in the oil and gas industry is dynamic which calls for patience and perseverance.

Cyprus’ public debt is deemed sustainable and will continue the downward path it entered in 2015, in all four sensitivity analysis scenarios, the Finance Ministry said.

There are no easysolutions Cyprus wants to become an energy hub and to exploit its natural wealth, Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said recently.

The Central Bank of Cyprus Governor and top officials from the island’s major commercial banks have said they support the creation of an asset management company (AMC), or a 'bad bank' that would assist the banks to reduce their massive non-performing loans, which amount to €21.9 billion.

The government generated a fiscal surplus of €429.2m on a cash basis in the first nine months of 2017, against a surplus of €143.4m in the same period of 2016, the statistical service said.

Four to five drillings are expected to take place in Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the next twelve months, said Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis.

Central Bank of Cyprus Governor Chrystalla Georghadji said that the amount of non-performing loans in the Cypriot banking system currently stands at €21.9bn or 44% of total loans.