In 2018, legislation which ties life expectancy to the retirement age will take effect, extending the retirement age in Cyprus.

The Finance Ministry’s Public Debt Management Office said that the government sold a total of €100m in 13-week treasury bills at an average yield of 0.02%, which is the lowest ever.

Sapienta Economics projects a real GDP growth rate of 2.6% in 2017, following an estimated growth rate of 2.8% in 2016.

Recent changes to property taxes in Cyprus will benefit both those who have purchased property and those planning to purchase.

Revenue from tourism rose in October 18% to €266m compared to the respective month of 2015, the statistical service said.

An extraordinary shareholders’ general meeting of the Cooperative Central Bank (CCB) approved the lender’s merger with the 18 separate cooperative saving banks (CSBs) it administers,the bank said.

Deposits in the Cyprus banking system registered a net increase of €358 million in November 2016, whereas loans recorded a marginal decline, figures released by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) show.

Greece’s largest lender Piraeus Bank said that it had completed the sale of a majority stake in its Cyprus subsidiary to Holding M. Sehnaoui SAL for €3.2m, reducing its stake to 17.7%.

Representatives of the three successful bidders in Cyprus’ third energy licensing round are meeting with Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis to jot down plans for negotiations early next year.

A deal has been struck between the consortium holding the marine services concession at the port of Limassol and EDT Offshore, allowing French oil major Total to drill its first exploratory well on schedule.