Cyprus central government debt stood at €18.315 billion at the end of 2017, a decline of 3.6% compared with 2016, according to data released recently by the Finance Ministry’s Public Debt Management Office (PDMO).

The Bank of Cyprus CEO John-Patrick Hourican recently urged the business community in Cyprus to increase the legal and political pressure to move towards a faster solution to the issue of non-performing loans (NPLs).

The economic sentiment index fell in March 2018 by 1.6 points to 117.5 compared to February after peaking at 119.9 in November, as confidence in the services and industrial sector and among consumers fell, the University of Cyprus said.

Cyprus is promoting three projects that were selected by the European Commission as projects of common interest, because of their benefits to the European energy market, President Nicos Anastasia's said recently.

Moody’s Investors Service recently downgraded the baseline credit assessment of the state-owned Cyprus Cooperative Bank to ‘ca’ from ‘caa2,’ citing a shortfall in provisions rendering a capital increase necessary.

An upcoming international conference at Nicosia’s Filoxenia conference centre promises to address the burning issue of climate change in the region in a comprehensive manner.

Cyprus needs to take advantage of the current higher-than-expected economic growth to promote structural reforms that will help reduce risks to its financial system and public finances and improve its competitiveness, bailout supervisors said.

Oil and gas companies are not discussing if but when they will be moving their facilities from Larnaca, Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said after meetings between companies and the municipality that wants them out of the city.

The government generated a fiscal surplus of €255m on a cash basis in January 2018, compared to €168m in January last year, as the increase in revenue outpaced that of expenditure, the Finance Ministry said.