Cyprus must take advantage of Brexit to develop as a maritime and financial centre, Andreas Hadjiyiannis, president of the executive committee of the Cyprus Union of Shipowners said recently, following a meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades, at the Presidential Palace.

The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) has been named as the Best Bank for Private Banking in Cyprus by the international magazine Euromoney, for the second consecutive year.

The Cyprus Minister of Finance issued a Decree on 30 December 2016, introducing a mandatory Country by Country (CBC) reporting requirement for multinational enterprise groups generating consolidated annual turnover exceeding €750m (MNE Group). The Decree is compliant with the EU Directive 2016/881 amending Directive 2011/16 relating to mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation and the OECD BEPS Action 13 on transfer pricing documentation and country by country reporting.

After almost 4 years of deflationary pressures, prices for many basic goods in Cyprus have dropped a significant amount.

A new undersea electricity cable—the Euro-African Interconnector– will link Cyprus to Egypt and Greece, through Crete, following the signing of a relevant agreement in Cairo.

The Finance Ministry is set to acquire new tools to better effectively monitor public debt, CNA reported recently.

State-owned energy giant Qatar Petroleum (QP) is exploring oil and gas in Morocco and Cyprus as it aims to expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets abroad while trimming costs at home.

Moody’s Credit Outlook which was issued on Thursday, 2 February 2017, highlighted the fact that the increase in deposits in the Cypriot banks has as a result the overall improvement of the banks’ funding structure.

The Ministers of Energy of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Israel will have a meeting in the beginning of April 2017 to discuss the potential of transporting natural gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe via Greece and Italy.

Feverish preparations are taking place in the Famagusta District for the next tourist season beginning in April 2017, with many hotel businesses making large-scale renovations.