The Central Bank of Cyprus Governor and top officials from the island’s major commercial banks have said they support the creation of an asset management company (AMC), or a 'bad bank' that would assist the banks to reduce their massive non-performing loans, which amount to €21.9 billion.

The government generated a fiscal surplus of €429.2m on a cash basis in the first nine months of 2017, against a surplus of €143.4m in the same period of 2016, the statistical service said.

Four to five drillings are expected to take place in Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the next twelve months, said Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis.

Central Bank of Cyprus Governor Chrystalla Georghadji said that the amount of non-performing loans in the Cypriot banking system currently stands at €21.9bn or 44% of total loans.

The government sold at an auction a total of €100m in 13-weeks treasury bills at an average yield of minus 0.07%, the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) said.

President Nicos Anastasiades and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri have held “very productive, fruitful and constructive” talks, during which they discussed a number of issues, including ways to enhance bilateral relations, EU-Lebanon ties and developments in efforts to find a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.

The Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) said that Monday night’s Cyprus-Russia business dinner in Moscow had been extremely fruitful in terms of making connection with top Russian entrepreneurs.

The Republic of Cyprus has adopted all international measures against the legalisation of income from illegal activities and the relevant Cypriot legislation is strict, the Ministry of Justice said recently in a press release.

Economic sentiment improved in October 2017, according to the University of Cyprus’ Economic Research Centre.

Bank of Cyprus, the island’s largest lender, said it obtained approval to set up an asset management company.