Representatives from the majority of Cyprus Investment Firms participated in an event organised by the two largest Advisory Groups in the sector, K.Treppides & Co and MAP S.Platis, titled 'Is Cyprus capable of remaining the leading jurisdiction for financial services in EU?'.

Bank of Cyprus, the island’s largest lender, said that it generated a €2m after tax profit in the first quarter of the year, as much as in the past quarter, compared to €50m in January to March 2016.

Yields dropped marginally to minus 0.05% when the government auctioned €100m in 13-weeks treasury bills, the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) said.

Revenue from tourism rose in March 2017 6.4% compared with the respective month of 2016 to €86.1m, the statistical service said.

Citi Research, a division of the US bank and financial services provider Citigroup Inc, said that it will initiate coverage of Bank of Cyprus with a target price of €4.10 per share with a 'buy rating', adding that it expects a €4.5bn reduction of bad loans by 2019.

Total deposits in the Cypriot banking system fell by €155.4m in April to €49.2m, the largest monthly drop since June 2015, the Central Bank of Cyprus said recently, while total credit fell by €96.6m to €54.6bn.

Discussions between the Cyprus Organisation for Storage and Management of Oil Stocks (KODAP) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the financing of a fuel storage terminal are progressing smoothly, KODAP President Panagiotis Malekos has told the press.

The electric conductor connecting Cyprus to Israel, Greece, and from there Europe, named the EuroAsia Interconnector, is at the final pre-planning stage which is 50% EU-funded.

The turnover value and volume indices of retail trade presented an increase in March 2017 and in the first three months of the year, the Statistical Service of Cyprus has said.

Low cost Czech airlineSmartWings has announced that it will begin two flights every week between Larnaca and Prague in the summer of 2017.