European Union Competition Commissioner Margethe Vestager recently welcomed steps taken by the Cypriot authorities to make the legislative framework on the tax treatment of financing companies more stringent.

At the recent annual general meeting of STEP Cyprus, the local branch of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, Philippos Aristotelous, partner in the firm’s private client and tax departments, was elected as a member on the board of directors of STEP Cyprus.

Cyprus’ debt stood at €19.3 bn in May 2017, unchanged from the beginning of the year, the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) has said.

A construction boom is taking place in Cyprus, boosting the country’s economy as it seeks to distance itself from the Troika-imposed bailout days.

Home prices rose 4.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, and dropped a quarterly 1.4%, the statistical service said.

Several successful promotional activities have given the Ayia Napa Marina wide international acclaim, attracting growing interest from international investors and buyers.

Cyprus recently repaid part of its bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund before the payment was due.

Annual inflation remained stable in Cyprus at 0.9% in June 2017 as it was in May 2017, but quite higher than the -2.0% it was in June 2016, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, says.

The number of tourist arrivals rose last month 14% to 472,450, the highest ever recorded in June, compared to the respective month of 2016, among saturation signs from the UK and Russia, the two major sources of incoming tourism, the statistical service said.

The state-owned Cooperative Central Bank said that it entered an agreement with Spain’s Altamira Asset Management SS to set up a joint unit to which the lender will outsource the management of its delinquent portfolio.