Cyprus recently repaid part of its bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund before the payment was due.

Annual inflation remained stable in Cyprus at 0.9% in June 2017 as it was in May 2017, but quite higher than the -2.0% it was in June 2016, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, says.

The number of tourist arrivals rose last month 14% to 472,450, the highest ever recorded in June, compared to the respective month of 2016, among saturation signs from the UK and Russia, the two major sources of incoming tourism, the statistical service said.

The state-owned Cooperative Central Bank said that it entered an agreement with Spain’s Altamira Asset Management SS to set up a joint unit to which the lender will outsource the management of its delinquent portfolio.

Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) figures have shown that Britons remain the biggest visitors to the island with 30.6 million people from Great Britain having spent their holidays in Cyprus since 1986.

Cyprus total exports in the period January to May 2017 amounted to €1.0 billion, declining by 16% compared to the same period of 2016.

Revenue from tourismrose almost 38% in April, to €189.6m, compared to the respective month of 2016, against a 27% increase in arrivals, the statistical service said.

A sustained increase in demand in building permits will help Cypriot banks improve their asset quality in the real estate sector, rating agency Moody’s said, as building permits in Cyprus reached a new high since the 2013 banking crisis.

A team of IMF experts currently in Nicosia to provide advice on matters of financial stability have urged the banks and authorities in Cyprus to hasten the restructuring of non-performing loans.

As of 1st July 2017, the tax treatment of intra-group financing arrangements has been amended in Cyprus.