* BOC launches shipping finance unit * Despite the troubles at Limassol port, with the slow transition to a private operator and management, the authorities are confident that the shipping sector will continue to grow, prompting the island’s largest lender, Bank of Cyprus, to launch a dedicated shipping finance unit. Already accounting for about
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By Lukman Otunuga, Research Analyst at FXTM Global markets were relatively unmoved during late trading on Wednesday after the slightly hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve failed to convince participants of a March interest rate hike. Although many Fed members have repeatedly voiced that it may be appropriate to raise interest rates again “fairly soon”,
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The Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) has invited international oil and gas companies (IOCs) to a consultation workshop on February 23 to introduce Lebanon’s first licensing round that has been stalled due to ongoing political disputes over the past years. The Ministry of Energy and LPA will present the recently adopted roadmap and an
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By Lukman Otunuga, Research Analyst at FXTM The renewed optimism over global economic growth has rekindled investors’ risk sentiment, resulting in equities lurching to all-time highs this week. Asian markets were firmly bullish during trading on Wednesday with the risk-on trading mood encouraging participants to propel European markets to uncharted territories. Wall Street may
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Banks would benefit from a sustainable recovery in the property market, Moody’s said after the central bank’s Cyprus Property Index posted its first rise in seven years. Although Cypriot banks continue to face significant asset quality challenges, a sustained reversal in the prices for apartments and houses would improve asset quality, a credit positive,
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The European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending arm of the European Union, signed a new EUR 100 mln loan with the Bank of Cyprus to support investments by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and MidCaps, aimed at bolstering growth and creating new jobs for young people. A state guarantee agreement between the EIB
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The government’s plan to extend the winter tourist period by providing more aid to hoteliers and airlines may be paying off, as the monthly Passengers Survey of the statistical service Cystat showed that arrivals were up 28.8% at 62,611 in January, compared to 48,607 in January 2016. Tourist arrivals from the U.K., the island’s
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* Takes over from Tony Christodoulou as firm adapts to PR market transformation * Action Global Communications, the Cyprus-based independent public relations firm with a network that spreads across 40 countries, has rebranded itself and launched a new and simplified corporate identity which reflects the company’s strategic transformation. Now being led by its new
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The Greece, Cyprus and Malta division of SAP, the leader in enterprise application software, has appointed Alex Mouradian as the Sales Director for Greece, in addition to his role in Malta and Cyprus, where he will maintain his base. With the key objective of maintaining a seamless and smooth operation for SAP in Cyprus
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The University of Cyprus School of Economics and Management announced that its graduates have won five international awards in the ICAEW professional exams for September and December 2016 sittings. The successful graduates are Sofia Papageorgiou, Andreas Constantinou, Charalampia Skordi and Martinianos Papadopoulos, who achieved the highest grade worldwide. In September 2016, Sofia Papageorgiou, who
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