The trade deficit in January to October 2016 widened by €619.5m to €3.5bn compared with the respective period of last year, or an annual 22%, the statistical service said.

Cyprus’ economy expanded an annual 2.9% in the third quarter and 0.7% compared with the previous quarter, the statistical service said, affirming a previous flash estimation.

The Limassol casino intends to raise the bar for casinos worldwide, according to the Melco-Hard Rock consortium, the winning bidder of the Republic of Cyprus’ first casino resort.

Paphos has hosted 3.9 million tourists in the first three quarters of the 2016, a 7.1% increase on last year’s figures, of whom half came from the United Kingdom and about a third from Russia, Cyprus Tourism Organisation boss Angelos Loizou said recently.

The number of building permits authorised by the municipal authorities and the district administration offices during September 2016 stood at 467 according to the Cyprus Statistical Service.

The government’s planning on important issues, such as privatisations, has not been altered due to the approval of cutbacks to the 2017 state budget by the House of Representatives, said the Minister of Finance, Harris Georgiades.

Cyprus plans to be out and about in bond markets next year, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said, after a successful first debt sale in July since its 2013 banking collapse and bailout.

The number of company registrations in November 2016 rose an annual 29% to 1,402, which is the highest figure in a single month since January 2013, the department of Company Registrar and Official Receiver said.

The value of transactions with plastic money dropped in November 2016 an annual 5% to €193.3m mainly on reduced property tax payments, paymentprocessing joint venture JCC Payments Systems Ltd said recently.

Cyprus' parliament has approved the state budget for 2017 with 28 votes in favour and 25 against.