Cyprus Business Now
According to the CBC’s monthly balance sheets, the remaining borrowing through TLTROs dropped to €100 million by the end of June, down from €2.7 billion at the end of May. This follows repayments of €1.8 billion in March 2024.
In June, both Hellenic Bank and the Bank of Cyprus made TLTRO repayments of €2.3 billion and €0.3 billion respectively, effectively zeroing their borrowing from central banks.
Moreover, Astrobank, in its financial results, reported that its funding from central banks stood at €100 million as of June 30, following a repayment of €100 million in March 2024.
TLTROs were launched in June 2014 to provide long-term liquidity to commercial banks under favourable lending conditions. Their aim was to stimulate lending to the real economy, particularly during the deflationary pressures of that period.
According to a report released on Wednesday by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat), total research expenditure for 2022 was estimated to have reached €207 million, representing 0.75 per cent of GDP.
This represents a slight increase from the €199.5 million recorded the prior year, corresponding to 0.8 per cent of Cyprus’ GDP.
“Although there was a 3.8 per cent increase in research spending in 2022 compared to 2021, Cyprus’ share of GDP dedicated to research and development activities continues to remain at low levels compared to other countries,” the service said.
For context, the average percentage of GDP spent on research in European Union member states is 2.24 per cent, with ranges varying from 0.46 per cent in Romania, 0.69 per cent in Malta, and 0.74 per cent in Latvia, to 3.20 per cent in Austria, 3.40 per cent in Sweden, and 3.43 per cent in Belgium.
However, the statistical service pointed out that Cyprus has one of the highest average annual growth rates in research spending, standing at 10.3 per cent for the period 2000–2022, compared to 4.2 per cent for the EU over the same period.
Sophic, an online platform that allows clients to invest in government bills, announced this week that it intends to secure a portion of this new issue, continuing its practice from previous issues.
“These bills provide attractive returns and serve as a safe haven for non-professional investors and businesses looking to manage their liquidity effectively,” the company said.
It is worth noting that in previous issues, Sophic and Athlos Capital, the independent investment company behind Sophic, acquired a significant portion of the government bills issued by the Republic.
This, the company said, “provided their clients with the opportunity to invest in products offering particularly appealing returns, notably higher than those offered by bank deposit rates”.
The government on Wednesday remained decidedly vague over a reported “deal” struck with tour operator Tui which resulted in Tui reportedly ending its operation of day-trip excursions to the north.
Deputy tourism minister Costas Koumis skirted around the subject on CyBC radio on Wednesday morning, saying the Republic of Cyprus had not “violated the Green Line regulation” and that his deputy ministry “does not cooperate with any organisation which promotes a programme for tourists to stay in the occupied territories”.
Pressed further on the matter, he added that “we work with a large number of organisations, but I do not think it is right to make statements about an agreement which concerns two parties.”
He continued down this line later in the day, telling the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that “we never choose to make any information public”.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Polyviou said that “that most visitors are coming from Britain and Israel“, noting that “both July and August performing particularly well”.
“We are very pleased to see that the year is finally turning out to be a very good one for Larnaca tourism, despite the fact that it started in a muted manner due to the situation in the Middle East,” he added.
He also mentioned that Britain remains Larnaca’s largest tourism market, followed by Israel, Poland, Romania, and Germany.
“There is of course tourism from Lebanon,” Polyviou said, “while the number of Israelis visiting our city is very high, so our hoteliers are satisfied with the number of tourists from that country”.
Regarding the bookings for September, the Pasyxe president mentioned that “this month also seems to be progressing well in terms of tourist arrivals from various countries”.
“At the same time, the two concerts that the world-renowned singer Ed Sheeran will perform in Larnaca on the weekend of September 7-8 are expected to bring hundreds of visitors from several foreign countries who will stay in the city’s hotels,” he concluded.
The strategic cooperation between Grid Telecom and Tamares Telecom was announced on Wednesday.
The cooperation sets the foundations for the creation of critical infrastructure through the development of a telecommunications hub on the island’s western coast for the safe submerging and connection of submarine fibre optic cable systems in the eastern Mediterranean between Europe and the Middle East.
The open-access connectivity hub will connect Cyprus in the west with Greece and southeastern Europe and in the east with Israel, Egypt and the Arab peninsula, securing alternative and reliable international data traffic routes for wholesale and corporate clients.
Benefits include low response, strong backup, high speed and advanced cyber security.
Independent energy producers on Monday accused the EAC of keeping a chokehold on competitors by placing obstacles in the way of the full opening up of the market.
Replying to the demands, the EAC says it has adopted a completely new way of operation on the basis of international models to guarantee separate operation and logistics, which was a precondition for the independent functioning of the energy market.
On EMA’s proposition that the already licenced current renewable energy projects should be exempt of the obligation to go through the whole licencing procedure for the installation of energy storage systems, the EAC says that all necessary licences were determined and issued according to regulations and laws, which all contributors were obliged to observe.
To the suggestion that the provision for hybrid systems, which stipulates that owners should sign contracts with the EAC, should not apply, the EAC says the aim of the energy ministry’s plan was to slash electricity prices for all consumers, which could only be achieved through the EAC and approved by the Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority (Cera).
The EAC says the retail price of energy from renewable energy sources depended to a great extent on the contracts between producers and providers.
The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Wednesday, August 21 with profits.
The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 176.85 points at 12:14 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.71 per cent over the previous day of trading.
The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 107.71 points, representing a rise of 0.71 per cent.
The total value of transactions came up to €474,513, until the aforementioned time during trading.
In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative and investment firm indexes rose by 0.82 per cent, 0.08 per cent and 0.37 per cent respectively. The hotel index remained unchanged.
The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+2.24 per cent), Hellenic Bank (-0.33 per cent), Demetra Holdings (+0.38 per cent), KEO (+2.65 per cent), and Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company (no change).