The number of Russian tourists visiting Cyprus is expected to drop by 30-40% in 2015, a concern which has mobilised all stakeholders in the tourist industry to minimise the impact by offsetting arrivals from other markets, Victor Mantovani, the President of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) said. For the winter months, tourism from
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Moody's Investors Service has downgraded to B2 the long-term deposit ratings of three Lebanese banks: Bank Audi S.A.L., BLOM Bank S.A.L. and Byblos Bank S.A.L., following Tuesday’s the downgrade of Lebanon's government bond ratings to B2 from B1 (outlook negative). Concurrently, Moody's lowered the baseline credit assessments of the three banks to b2 from b1
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A slim majority of MPs voted through the government’s budget for 2015 on Tuesday evening, with the main focus being cutbacks, recover and reform. Despite harsh criticism from the opposition AKEL, the smaller socialist EDEK and the centre-right DIKO, the former coalition partner as expected approved the budget but with reservations. The budget could only
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* What next for the Cyprus bellwether stock? * Heavy selling by disgruntled shareholders saw Bank of Cyprus shed a quarter of its value on the first day it returned to the Cyprus and Athens stock exchanges on Tuesday. But some analysts are confident that the first day of re-listing of the one-time bellwether stock
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By Jameel Ahmad Chief Market Analyst, FXTM After breaking through a bearish trendline at the beginning of last week, Gold benefited from some USD profit-taking and managed to climb its way back up the charts. However, the yellow metal found resistance at $1238 preventing entry to $1240 and current technicals indicate this could be a
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The Central Bank of Cyprus has called on the banking system to resume its lending role and help kick-start the ailing economy. In its monthly economic bulletin for December, the central bank said that the successful completion of the European Central Bank stress tests by four lenders in October “is one of the most favourable
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By Jameel Ahmad, Chief Market Analyst, FXTM Although the oil markets are attempting some sort of rebound as European trading begins, both Brent and crude opened trading by recording further lows on Monday. Brent dropped to $60.92, while crude declined to $56.71. The bears are continuing to exploit the economic conditions that are aggressively against
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About 100 homes and businesses were seriously damaged by Saturday’s torrential rains in the Larnaca area, with about 50 people already housed in nearby hotels and the Interior Minister promising emergency aid. Media coverage throughout the weekend showed homes and buildings flooded as the sudden torrent brought a gush of water and mud down the
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Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades was discharged from his New York hospital on Sunday and is back in his hotel for a brief recovery period, before returning home next weekend, with critical issues, such as the Cyprus problem, reforms and the economic crisis already on his mind. At Mount Sinai hospital, cardiac surgeon David Adams, who
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Emirates Engineering marked another milestone when the team performed its first 3C-Check on an A380, a major overhaul that restores the airline’s first A380 aircraft to near pristine condition. In a round-the-clock operation taking 55 days, two teams of highly specialised engineers stripped the entire interior of the double-decked aircraft to the bare metal hull,
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