Cyprus Business Now

The head of the Cyprus association of entertainment venues (Osika) Neophytos Thrasyvoulou on Friday said that high costs and struggles with finding staff continue to be the main issues facing the association’s members.

According to an Osika announcement, the association will immediately seek to meet with the relevant ministers as soon as president-elect Nicos Christodoulides announces his cabinet.

Elsewhere in the statement, Thrasyvoulou thanked the outgoing ministers of the Anastasiades administration, whose term ends on February 28, 2023, for the “very good cooperation they have had all these years”.

The Osika chief specifically referred to the Ministers of Labour, Interior, Health, Transport, and the Deputy Minister of Tourism who, as he says, dealt extensively with the problems of the tourism industry and, above all, Cypriot restaurants and other such venues.

“Together we managed to find solutions to many problems facing their industry, through the proper interventions,” Thrasyvoulou concluded.

The economic climate in Cyprus improved in February, with the Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) increasing by 1.9 points compared to January, according to a report by the Economic Research Center of the University of Cyprus.

According to the report, the increase in the index is mainly due to the strengthening of the business climate in services and the strengthening of consumer confidence.

The report noted that the rise in sentiment in services was the result of more positive assessments of the current economic situation of businesses and turnover during the last quarter.

In addition, sentiment in construction improved marginally due to more favourable assessments of ongoing projects, while pessimistic estimates of future employment had a negative effect on the relevant index.

Moreover, the weakening of retail sentiment was due to more unfavourable assessments of the current situation, including recent sales and current inventories, combined with a more pessimistic estimate of future sales.

Sentiment in manufacturing remained unchanged, staying at the same level it was in January.

In February, consumer sentiment improved for the fourth consecutive month.

“Consumers assessed the recent financial situation of their households more favourably and revised upward their expectations for the future financial situation of both their households and the country in general,” the report said.

“However, consumers’ intentions to make large purchases in the coming months weakened,” it added.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Friday, February 24 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 116.84 points at 13:35 during the day, reflecting an increase of 1.28 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 71.71 points, representing a rise of 1.33 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €220,054.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative and investment firm indexes rose by 1.99 per cent, 0.13 per cent and 4.73 per cent respectively. The hotel index remained unchanged.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (-1.06 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+3.15 per cent), Demetra (+5 per cent), Logicom (+3.81 per cent), and Salamis Tours (-0.55 per cent).