The fiscal deficit was reduced by €198m in Q2 2014 compared with the same period in 2013, mainly as a result of a significant decrease of expenditure on civil servants compensation and a decrease in social benefits.

f the bill on the foreclosures on mortgaged properties is not approved, the value of mortgaged loans of systemic banks of Cyprus will be zero during the stress tests, says Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) Governor Chrystalla Georghadji.

Credit card expenditure for July showed a 6% increase in the use of local plastic for purchases in Cyprus, as well as a 3% drop in the use of local cards abroad compared to the same month last year, data by clearing agency JCC showed.

Israel’s Delek Group said recently that they had extended to November 2014 their proposal in the tender to supply natural gas to Cyprus.

Citrus farmers asked the Cyprus government to separate its position from that of the rest of the EU on the matter of sanctions against Russia, so the country’s ban on imports from EU countries is lifted for Cypriot farmers.

Cyprus and Guernsey have signed a comprehensive double taxation agreement.

The trade deficit in the first five months of the year rose to €1.33 bln, compared to €1.22 bln in the same period of 2013, data released by the Statistical Service Cystat has shown.

Parliamentary parties, with the exception of the ruling Democratic Rally, said recently that the foreclosures legislation could not pass as it is and asked the government to renegotiate the bill with the Troika of international lenders, who refused to do so.

Cyprus is seeking EU compensation for farmers and producers who have been badly hit by the prolonged drought said Agriculture Minister Nikos Kouyialis recently.

American billionaire Wilbur Ross, a potential stakeholder in the Bank of Cyprus, has set the repossession bill as a prerequisite for his €400 million investment that will increase the bank’s capital in time for EU stress tests.