Total new bank loans in Cyprus increased by 22.2% in 2021 compared to the previous year, coming close to the levels of pre-coronavirus 2019, with deposits also taking off.

The real estate market is back on track following the pandemic and demise of the Citizenship for investment scheme, as property sales in January exceeded those in the same month in pre-COVID 2019.

In Cyprus’ Health Profile for 2021, it is noted that Cyprus spends less on health than most EU countries. In 2019, 1881 euros per capita went towards health, which is about half the average of €3521 for the EU as a whole. Despite gradual increases over the past decade, this amount translates to 7 % of GDP, a significantly lower share compared to the total EU average of 9.9 %. In addition, only 8 % of the government budget was spent on health, compared with a 14 % EU average.

Some €2.2 million will be spent on upgrading track and field facilities, while special emphasis will be given to bringing football stadiums into line with the requirements of the licensing authority, government spokesman Marios Pelekanos announced on Friday.

Work to build the LNG terminal at Vasiliko is expected to start around the end of February with a view to delivering the multi-million-euro project by July 2023, the Cyprus News Agency reported on Friday quoting a representative of the China Petroleum Pipeline company awarded the contract.

We can’t hear you, you’re on mute! It’s a phrase most of us have got used to hearing in the last few years as we embrace hybrid working in both Cyprus and Malta. For some companies’ hybrid working has always existed, but for others it was completely uncharted waters that we were reluctantly forced to explore in response to the pandemic, in what became the remote working experiment. So, what exactly is hybrid working?  Well to sum it up it’s an arrangement in which an employee is able to work part of their time at the workplace and part remotely.

Despite the global pandemic property construction in Limassol has remained strong along the west side of the city that is now being dubbed Europe’s new Riviera by developers, Leptos Estates.

Deputy Ministers for Tourism and Shipping Savvas Perdios and Vassilis Demetriades welcomed the assurances by Royal Caribbean’s interest to invest in Cyprus, expressing their readiness to enhance the island’s cooperation with the cruise liner.

Online shopping in Cyprus grew by a faster rate than the EU average as Covid-19 restrictions accelerated an already growing trend in favour of re-commerce, but still remained among the lowest in the bloc.

The possibility of a fourth dose of a vaccine against Covid-19 will be discussed towards September, while it is expected that discussions will start in May on the virus being classed as an endemic one, Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Virology at the University of Nicosia Medical School, Dr Petros Karayiannis, told CNA.