The Saipem 10000 ultra deepwater drillship continues on its course for Cyprus, where later this month it is scheduled to carry out exploratory drilling for natural gas in block 6.

The Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) said that it selected seven international investment banks to help develop an “efficient” secondary market for Cypriot government securities.

Since August 1 2017, the state-owned Cyprus Cooperative Bank has reduced its non-performing loans by €670m to €6.5bn, an executive was quoted as saying by the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

Cyprus records the lowest annual inflation rate in Europe at just 0.2%.

The job vacancy rate in the euro area (EA19) was 1.9% in the third quarter of 2017, stable compared with the previous quarter and up from 1.6% in the third quarter of 2016, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Hellenic Bank, the third largest in Cyprus, is considering making changes to its salary framework, a source familiar with the matter said recently.

Cyprus has a strong track record in providing professional services, but the key to future growth is to find efficient ways to export these services internationally, says Hellenic Bank’s Chief Risk Officer Stefano Capodagli.

Internet access in households continued to rise in 2017 reaching 79.4% compared with 74.4% in 2016, the Statistical Service said.

The unemployment rate fell at the end of the third quarter of 2017 to 10%, from 12.9%, in the respective period of 2016, and 10.6% in April to June, the statistical service said citing its quarterly labour force survey.

An overall very positive picture of the Cypriot economy, notwithstanding specific challenges, was drawn by the speakers of an Economist event held in London’s Stock Exchange recently.