The government issued recently €3.2bn in bonds in favour of the Cyprus Cooperative Bank with a maturity of 5 months to 53 months, the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) said.

Rating Agency, Moody’s, has described the sale of Bank of Cyprus subsidiary, Bank of Cyprus UK, as credit positive, noting that the sale would place Bank of Cyprus in a better position to focus on reducing its domestic high stock of problematic loans.

Larnaca Municipality has presented plans for the creation of a marine and maritime institute to promote scientific and business excellence in the blue economy sector.

The number of company registrations rose in June 2018 an annual 17% to 1,123 unaffected by tougher anti-money laundering measures including shell companies being banned from the banking system, official figures show.

A satellite casino is expected to open in 2019 at Larnaca airport, sources revealed recently.

Moody’s Investors Service said that it has placed the credit rating of Hellenic Bank and the Cyprus Cooperative Bank on review for a possible upgrade following the agreement allowing the Co-ops operations to Hellenic.

Limassol’s temporary casino, which opened its doors on June 28, 2018 is proving more popular with Cypriots than foreign visitors, according to press reports.

Non-performing loans in the Cypriot banking system fell in March 2018 by almost €2.1bn to €19.9bn in a month, which is the lowest since December 2014, the Central Bank of Cyprus said.

Cyprus has the third highest number of beachfront hotels among Mediterranean islands according to the specialised hotel search engine www.travelmyth.gr.

The acquisition of part of the Co-op bank will turn Hellenic into the leading lender in retail and small and medium businesses in Cyprus, its CEO said recently.