Cyprus’ government debt rose by €94m in March 2016, to €18.7bn, compared to December, the public debt management office said.

Revenue from tourism recorded a significant increase of 24.5% in March 2016, amounting to €80.9 million in March 2016 compared to €65.0 million in the corresponding month of the previous year.

The new Cyprus airline, Cobalt, recently embarked on its maiden flight.

The Consumer Price Index for May 2016, increased by 0,61 units to 98,66 units compared to 98,05 units in April 2016.

The total Non-Performing Facilities (NPFs), recorded a decrease of €1.1 billion in March 2016, the Central Bank of Cyprus announced recently.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades does not anticipate that a possible vote in favour of a Brexit on June 23 2016 in a referendum to decide if the UK should leave the EU, could have a negative impact on Cyprus’ economy.

The total amount of deposits in the banking system increased by €144 million in April of 2016, while total loans decreased by €86.7 million, continuing the de-leveraging trend for a fourth month in a row.

Bank of Cyprus, the island's largest lender recorded net profit of €50 million in the first quarter of 2016, owing to its profitability and the momentum in non-performing loan restructuring which exceeded €1 billion in the quarter than ended on March 31 2016.

Non-performing loans in the Cypriot banking system fell in March 2016 by almost €1.1bn to €25.7bn or 48.4% of the overall loan portfolio of banks, compared with the month before, the Central Bank of Cyprus said.

The government recently proposed introducing a flat immovable property tax rate to 0.05% and scrapping the IPT paid to local authorities altogether.