The government approved contracts that granted three energy companies concessions for gas exploration in Cyprus' continental shelf, Minister of Energy, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis has said.

Standard & Poor’s rating agency upgraded its assessment of Cyprus to BB+ from BB, with a stable outlook.

At the end of March the Cyprus economy, its fiscal reforms and the financial system will go through the standard tests of the Commission and European Central Bank which are conducted every six months.

Cobalt has announced that it will be operating scheduled flights from Larnaca to Zurich, Switzerland as from April 14 2017.

The upgrade of Cyprus’ rating by Standard and Poor’s constitutes a reaffirmation of the economy’s growth prospects, as well as the stable and sustainable course of public finances, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said recently.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said the government would not take any fiscal measures that would undermine the economy`s growth prospects, despite the European Commission`s view that Cyprus should implement measures to comply with the Stability and Growth Pact targets concerning the structural balance in 2017.

A strong passport is a powerful thing when it comes to seamless international travelling, allowing its holder to move across borders without dealing with the nightmarish bureaucracy of a visa application.

If Cyprus is to attract the big users of telecommunications like data hosting or hi-tech financial services trading, and if it is to meet the challenge of deep-pocketed new players like Google and Microsoft, it needs to attract more foreign investment.

Inflation in Cyprus was 1.4% in February 2017, up from 0.7% in January 2017, with a monthly rate of 0.1%.

Cyprus took a step closer to becoming a regional technology hub as Imperial College’s Vice President David Gann visited the University of Cyprus to help launch the two universities’ joint KIOS Centre of Excellence.