The number of company registrations, an indicator of the performance of the business services sector, rose in February 25% to 1,207 compared to the respective month of 2017, the Department of the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver said.

Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said Royal Dutch Shell has showed interest in buying Cypriot and Israeli gas over the next 10 years.

Moody’s Investors Service said that Cyprus’ economy will continue to expand at a fast pace which in turn is likely to help borrowers’ repayment capacity and support the value of assets and new lending, helping banks improve their performance and reduce their non-performing loans stock.

One of the two ExxonMobil research vessels scheduled to carry out explorations in block 10 of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) has departed from Greece and is headed towards Limassol port, according to marinetraffic.com.

Accelerating the reduction of non-performing loans continues to be a key objective, a senior Central Bank official said recently, noting however that a new legal framework that could have helped is largely unenforceable.

Cyprus’s economy expanded 3.9% in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to the same period the previous year, and a seasonally adjusted 3.9%, the statistical service said.

The unemployment rate in the last three months of 2017 fell to 10.1%, from 12.8% in the fourth quarter of 2016, the statistical service said citing its labour force survey.

Construction output is expected to pick up further as building permits for 2017 show a 47% increase in the construction area of projects that received the go-ahead from local authorities, to 1,542,663 square metres, compared to 2016, the statistical service said.