The leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Egypt recently reaffirmed their commitment to deepening the trilateral partnership among their nations, primarily in the areas of energy, security and counter-terrorism, tourism, technology and innovation.

Capital Intelligence, the Limassol-based rating company, said that it affirmed Hellenic Bank’s B+ financial strength rating and placed it on positive outlook citing an expected decline in bad debts resulting from economic recovery.

The creation of conditions for stability and confidence is a prerequisite for reinvigorating the economic activity in Cyprus, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said recently addressing the Reintroducing Ourselves, New Beginning conference in Nicosia.

Almost 90% of Cyprus’ exports, as well as over 80% of imports, to and from European Union member states are done by small and medium enterprises (SMEs), data published by Eurostat recently showed.

Bank of Cyprus, the island’s largest lender is pursuing a sale of a package of loans amounting to €450 million as part of its efforts to reduce its non-performing loans which amounted to €9.16 billion or 46.7% of its total loan book by end-September 2017.

Industrial Turnover recorded an increase of 8.6% in August 2017, compared to the same month of 2016, according to data released recently by the Statistical Service of Cyprus.

In 2016 the number of enterprises reached 93.066 compared to 90.162 in 2015, thus recording an increase of 3.2%, according to figures by the Cyprus Statistical Service.

Last month was the best October ever in terms of tourist arrivals which rose 14% compared to the same month of 2016 to 406,870, the statistical service said.

Less than ten years after the bursting of the Cypriot property market bubble, the sector has entered a tentative recovery phase, with the exception of Limassol, where it is already booming with prices and rents driven upwards at a fast rate which experts expect to continue in the foreseeable future.

In Cyprus, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.9% on a quarterly basis and by 3.9% on an annual basis during the 3rd quarter of 2017, according to a flash estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.