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.

The Cyprus Cooperative Central Bank recently announced profits amounting to €28 million for Q1 2016, mainlydue to operational earnings that amounted to €42 million.

A new direct international service will connect Rome and Larnaca from 8 June 2016, it was announced by Alitalia recently.

Cyprus’ unemployment rate dropped in April 2016 to 11.6% from 12% in March and 15.7% in April 2015, which is the sixth highest in Europe and the lowest since April 2012, the European Union’s statistical office said.

Cyprus has the basic ingredients to become a competitive and credible centre for the global Funds Industry, Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades told the International Fund Summit that took place in Limassol recently.

Manufacturing output is up year-on-year in March 2016 according to the Cyprus statistical service in an announcement recently.

The Public Debt Management Office, a division of the Finance Ministry, said that it sold 13-week treasury bills worth €130.7m at an average yield of 0.89%, which is slightly above that of the last auction.

The economic sentiment indicator fell in May 2016 by 2.4 points in a month to 109.5 as consumer confidence and business confidence in all areas except manufacturing and retail trade deteriorated, the University of Cyprus said.