Standard & Poor’s raised Cyprus’ sovereign rating a notch to BB- citing the removal of capital controls in April 2015 and the improvement in the fiscal situation and placed the outlook to positive.

The Cypriot economy will face important challenges even after the country’s exit from the bailout programme, Mark Lewis, the outgoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission chief for Cyprus, said recently.

The Cyprus government has announced a series of new tax incentives to boost economic activity and attract foreign investment. International investors (individuals and corporate groups) can now better enhance corporate substance and improve the tax efficiency of their international operations.

Hellenic Bank confirmed recently that it had entered into an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the acquisition of 5.4% equity stake in the Bank’s share capital following an agreement by the board of directors.

Transport Minister Marios Demetriades, whose remit includes the privatisation of the port of Limassol, that is expected to be managed by new investors during the first half of 2016, said that the tender for the Larnaca port and marina venture will be re-issued within the first quarter of next year.

Tourism and government officials are working to find a way around strict EU visa regulations in order to be able to attract some 300,000 visitors from China a year, compared to the paltry 1,000 that visit the island at present, a meeting at the Foreign Ministry concluded.

European banks’ bad loans have more than doubled since 2009 to stand at about €1trn at the end of 2014, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) paper released recently.

Hermes Airports in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Works will be inviting an expression of interest for the old Larnaca and Paphos airports grounds within the next few days, Hermes Airports spokesperson Adamos Aspis told the Cyprus News Agency.

Central government debt fell compared with the year earlier in the second quarter of 2015 according to figures from the Public Debt Management Office.

The Statistical Service of Cyprus announced that it has published the new monthly electronic publication “Intra-Extra EU Trade Statistics (by commodity and country)” for January-June 2015.