The prospect of creating a privately-funded asset-management company – or ‘bad bank’ – to help address the problem of non-performing loans (NPLs) is one that could be explored, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said recently.

Transavia Airlines, which offers flights from Larnaca and Paphos to Amsterdam, was officially welcomed to the island recently in a ceremony at Larnaca airport.

Bailed-out Cyprus sold €1 billion in seven-year bonds recently, highlighting its economic recovery and the gulf with Greece, whose future in the euro zone is in doubt.

The economic climate in Cyprus improved in April 2015, with the Economic Condition Index increasing by 4 percentage points relative to the previous month, the University of Cyprus’ Economic Research Centre announced recently.

International lenders began talks in Cyprus recently to try to pave the way for a resumption of bailout payments after the island passed a law on foreclosure of bad loans.

Noble Energy has announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents per common share payable on May 26, 2015 to the shareholders of record at the close of business on May 11, 2015.

Billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., who pumped about €400m into Bank of Cyprus in August 2014 and now controls 19% of the island’s biggest lender, is confident that the bank will continue on its recovery path and as it continues to be restructured, it can gaze forward with a view to 'Bank of Cyprus, 2020'.

The government does not plan to raise taxes or cut pensions and wages, President Nicos Anastasiades assured civil servants recently, noting however, that government spending, including payroll, could only increase at a reasonable pace.

Cyprus plans to tap the international bond market and to this end the Finance Ministry announced recently that is has mandated four large international banks to update investors on recent developments and funding strategy.

Noble and its partners are expected to formally declare commerciality for the Aphrodite gas field in April 2015, followed by submission of a Development Plan soon after.