The government posted a €142.8m budget surplus in January to September 2016, on a cash basis, compared to a €100.8m surplus in the respective period of 2015, the statistical service said.

Germania airline has announced a raft of new services between Paphos and seven German cities scheduled to begin in 2017, fuelling hopes for continued growth in visitor numbers from the northern European country.

As the summer 2016 season ends, efforts to increase tourism for the coming months are being ramped up in Paphos.

Revenue from tourism rose 9.4% year-on-year in August 2016, to €392.2m, with Cyprus getting a taste of the Brexit vote, the statistical service said.

Total and EDT signed a contract on October 6 2016, in the presence of Transport Minister Marios Demetriades and Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, signifying the restart of drilling in Block 11 by April 2017.

The development of the domestic conventional gas resources discovered in Cyprus should be actively pursued, a recent resolution adopted by the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, stresses.

Cyprus will again be an economic top performer in 2016 and will not veer from its prudent fiscal course, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades told the European Commission.

The construction and use of the underwater EastMed pipeline for the transfer of natural gas from the EEZs of Cyprus and Israel is technically feasible and economically sound.

The government’s deposits at the central bank stood at €1.4bn in September 2016, compared to €1.6bn in August, the Central Bank of Cyprus said.

The economic sentiment indicator rose in October 2016 by 1.8 points in a month, to 113.6, on improved confidence among consumers as well as service and retail trade companies, after falling last month from its August nine-year peak, the University of Cyprus said.