The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) and the island’s hotel industry are shifting focus towards specialised tourism markets in the Middle East.

Hellenic Bank recently announced that it will be lowering its interest rates by 1% as of March 1, as soon as the Central Bank of Cyprus’ proposal was issued.

Cyprus will overcome the current foreclosure impasse and fulfil bailout terms agreed with international creditors during the financing period, economists said recently to the press.

Noble Energy predict that it could take between six and eight years for gas to be drilled out of the Aphrodite gas field in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Cyprus’ leading recruitment agency, GRS, has flourished since it was established in 2005 and is Cyprus’ top agency for filling executive and board level positions.

January 2015 inflation in Cyprus decreased at a rate of -0.7%, compared to 2014 , according to the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP).

Tourist arrivals in Cyprus increased by 2.8% in January 2015, compared to the same month last year, from 40,675 to 41,799, with Israeli and German tourists taking the lead.

Close to 3,400 Cypriots with deposits abroad have been charged €7.5 million in tax, lawmakers heard recently, as they discussed the issue of alleged tax evaders supposedly included on a list of people with deposits in HSBC Switzerland.

2014 ended with a slight increase in arrivals of 1.5%, or some 2.4 million, however 2015 is set to be a challenging year for tourism, according to Minister of Commerce Giorgos Lakkotrypis.

The Cyprus Institute (CyI) has been awarded a European Research Area (ERA) Chair grant of €2.5 million in the field of Solar Thermal Energy (STE).