Telecoms group MTN has launched its second Innovation Challenge, with the aim of supporting start-ups in the field of technology.

Noble looks set to cut its stake in Cyprus’ offshore Block 12 where the Aphrodite field is located.

Revenue from tourism recorded a large increase of 15% in March 2015 compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, reverting thus the negative aspect that dominated the first two months of the year.

President Nicos Anastasiades said recently that the government was looking to improve the island’s tax framework and cut red tape in a bid to attract foreign investment.

Four major companies from Las Vegas, Malaysia and Macao are expected to bid for the licence to build and operate a large casino resort in Cyprus.

Netherlands-based global oil terminal company VTTI, whose €300m fuel storage facility at Vasiliko was officially inaugurated recently, is eyeing Cyprus for further investments, the company’s CEO Rob Nijst said.

The Chairwoman of Hellenic Bank has called for the creation of asset management vehicles or companies sothat banks can properly deal with the vast problem of non-performing loans and the glut in the property market.

The Cooperative Central Bank reported net profits of €37.1 mln in Q1 2015, down from €41.2 mln in Q4 of 2014, due to a drop in interest income and an increase in provisions by €22 mln to €3.04 bln.

Cyprus posted a €64.3m budget gap on a cash basis in the first four months of the year which accounts for 0.4% of gross domestic product compared to a 0.8% surplus in the respective 2014 period, the Finance Ministry said.

House prices rose 0.6% in the first quarter of the year island-wide as prices for other categories dropped compared to the quarter before, the Cyprus unit of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said.