Unemployment in Cyprus fell slightly in January to 16.1%, compared to 16.4% in December 2014, but still above the 15.7% rate recorded in January 2014, according to Eurostat. The EU’s statistical office said the eurozone seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.2% in January, down from 11.3% in December 2014, and 11.8% in January 2014, recording the

The socialist party of Cyprus, with just five deputies in the 56-seat House of Representatives, elected its third leader on Sunday in the party’s 46-year history and hopes to head into the May 2016 parliamentary elections with a new look and fresh platform. Deputy party chief Marinos Sizopoulos won 60% of the votes against his

The sectors of accommodation and food service activities recorded an annual increase of 4.2% in 2014, according to the Statistical Service Cystat, a trend underlined by recent tourism data that showed an increase in arrivals but a slight fall in money spent by tourists. According to the Cystat figures, the food service activities increased in

Twelve EU member states, including Cyprus, have missed the minimum interconnection target allowing at least 10% of their installed electricity output be available across borders. The European Commission had earlier last week unveiled a series of communications, outlining its ambition to create an Energy Union and achieve the 10% electricity interconnection target, pointing out also

The value of goods in the transport and storage sector recorded a decrease of 1.4% in 2014 according to the annual Turnover Value Index published by the Statistical Service Cystat, with land transport and water transport enjoying an increase of 6.8% and 13.3%, respectively, while air transport recording a record annual fall of 25,6%. Warehousing

Industrial output is nearing its lowest levels in years with the Index of Industrial Production recording a significant slowdown in 2014, continuing the negative trend of the past six years. For the January–December 2014 period, the index decreased by 0.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. For the month of December 2014

The Ministry of Agriculture and the municipality of Ayia Napa have scuttled a navy vessel which will be used to enrich the seabed near the popular holiday resort and create an artificial reef for divers in the Pernera area, the fifth such venture along the Cyprus coast. The Ministry of Defence donated the 1970s built

Tourism revenue fell for the first time in five years by €59 mln in 2014, despite an annual increase of 1.5% in tourism arrivals, according to the monthly Passenger Survey by the Statistical Service Cystat. Revenue from the economy’s main driver totalled €2,023.4 mln last year from €2,082.4 mln in 2013, a drop of 2.8%,

Demand for the 6-year Cyprus government retail bonds, a low-tax scheme launched last year to boost state coffers, picked up again with the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) announcing it received applications worth €10.71 mln for the third series of the 2015 bonds for March. The PDMO said the issue was oversubscribed as a total

The Cooperative Central Bank, the nationalised former co-operative lender that controls a large chunk of local deposits and loans, announced further cuts in its lending rates as of Sunday, in addition to cuts announced earlier this year, in line with the prevailing lending rates in the Eurozone. The CCB board reviewed the recent decision by