Demand for loans is gradually picking up and, although it has yet to reach the peaks of previous years, it is creating mobility at banking branches for all sorts of services.

The Industrial Turnover Index for May 2017 reached 90.2 units (base 2010=100), recording an increase of 18.1% compared to May 2016.

The number of tourist arrivals exceeded for the very first time the half-a-million mark when they rose in July 10% to 531,030 compared to the respective month last year, the statistical service said.

The development of the Larnaca port and marina are back on track after a company repealed an appeal to the Tender Review Authority for its exclusion to the tender procedures.

Cyprus is the seventh most popular European country for Britons looking to relocate or buy a second home, figures from property website Rightmove suggest.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said recently that the latestpreliminary figure of a 3.6% economic growth in Q2 2017 showed that Cyprus’ recovery is “strong”.

The general government generated a fiscal deficit of €138.4m in Q2 2017 after posting a €200.9m surplus in the quarter before, the statistical service said.

There appears to be increasing interest in alternative Cyprus investments with real estate demand from wealthy buyers active, and ranging from the acquisition of top quality houses to office buildings (as an investment, for income), and so forth.

Tourism is particularly important for peripheral economies in the Eurozone, such as Malta and Cyprus, according to new analysis from PwC.

Hoteliers are pleased with hotel occupancy for the holiday period, according to the president of the Cyprus Hotels Association (Pasyxe), Haris Loizides.