Fitch rating agency affirmed Cyprus’ long-term sovereign rating at “BBB-” with a stable outlook, citing high sovereign debt and a weak banking sector as the main challenges facing the economy. It said Cyprus’ institutional strength as underlined in its per capita GDP, and governance indicators, a record of robust economic growth and sound fiscal policy
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By Lukman Otunuga, Senior Research Analyst at FXTM Asian shares turned mixed on Monday while US equity futures slipped, despite Wall Street ending Friday on a strong note. Investors seem to have entered the holiday-shortened week in a cautious mood, ahead of key economic releases, President Biden’s infrastructure spending plans and the monthly US non-farm
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Scientists advising the government on handling COVID-19 propose that gymnasium students and Limassol primary schools can return to class from Friday while warning against wider lockdown relaxations. Maintaining their stance that exiting lockdown should not be rushed, scientists put their proposals before Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou after a Sunday night meeting. The government will discuss
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Turkish Cypriots stand firm on their insistence for a two-state solution on Cyprus as an UN-led conference to resume moribund talks looms in Geneva. Tahsin Ertugruloglu, foreign minister of the breakaway, occupied north, told the Financial Times that attempts at reunification over five decades had proved a “total failure”. He said Greek Cypriots and the
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Unconfirmed reports suggested that a boxship blocking the Suez Canal may have been freed Monday morning after salvage crews and dredgers worked through the night. On Sunday, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al Sisi ordered the unloading of one of the biggest container vessels in the world if salvage operations failed, with about 370 ships waiting
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It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that the President’s approval ratings have slid down the popularity ladder faster than a snake sheds its skin. Asking Cypriots what they think about the President is a tad unfair when people are sick of COVID-19 lockdown measures, restricting their movement and freedom. The economy has taken
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Cyprus reported two deaths from COVID-19, one of whom had been vaccinated, but new cases and patient numbers dropped on Sunday, as diabetics and those considered obese are next on the national inoculation programme. The health ministry said that 326 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 were diagnosed from 55,090 tests, slightly down from Saturday’s 334, while
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By Haro Chakmakjian Southern California may have Hollywood, but Silicon Valley has a star of its own – not just tech glitterati — in the shape of a Jerusalem donkey chewing the fat. Meet Perry, possibly “the most famous” animal of its breed; a title won on the back of his service as a real-life
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To celebrate the Day of the Tree, the government provided small trees to the public free of charge to encourage tree planting. The public responded, and out of the 300,000 saplings on offer, two-thirds were already given away, while the traffic jam near the forestry stations and the waiting time to secure a tree exceeded
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When news first broke 11 years ago about potential natural gas reservoirs lying offshore Cyprus, everybody jumped for joy, as if we had struck ‘black gold’, the energy commodity was ready to be sold, and Cypriots were richer overnight. At the time, many had warned that it could be as much a blessing as a
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