Cyprus Business Now

The Cypriot economy maintained its strong momentum in the first quarter of 2023, with the GDP showing a growth rate of 3.4 per cent on an annual basis.

However, there are signs of slowing down amidst prevailing uncertainty in the external environment and the restrictive policies implemented by the European Central Bank in an effort to control high inflation.

According to a preliminary estimate by the Statistical Service, the growth rate in the first quarter remained at 3.4 per cent on an annual basis, even after adjusting for seasonal fluctuations and working days.

In addition, the report noted that the positive GDP growth rate can be primarily attributed primarily a number of sectors, including hotels and restaurants, transport and storage, information and communications, wholesale and retail trade, as well as the repair of motor vehicles.

Moreover, the sectors of arts, entertainment and recreation, other service activities, and financial activities, also contributed to the economy’s growth.

Compared to the previous quarter, the growth rate was 0.8 per cent after adjusting for seasonal variations.

Moreover, the latest figures released by Eurostat position Cyprus in second place within the EU and the Eurozone, behind Spain (3.8 per cent), in terms of the annual growth rate.

It is worth noting that the Ministry of Finance anticipates a slowdown in the growth rate this year to 2.8 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent in 2022. Additionally, the Commission’s spring forecasts estimate a real GDP growth rate of 2.3 per cent for Cyprus.

Mobility services company Bolt, which operates across Europe and Africa, recently announced the expansion of its late-night delivery services in Cyprus.

According to the announcement, customers can now order food from Bolt Food until 2 in the morning throughout the week in Limassol and Nicosia.

The company noted that this service was introduced after their food delivery application saw an increase in demand for late-night food orders.

What is more, according to Bolt data, late-night ordering has grown on an average of 23 per cent since the beginning of 2023, with Friday night seeing the biggest growth in late-night food orders for Cyprus customers.

The late-night service will now be available from a select number of late-night restaurants across Limassol and Nicosia, including KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonalds.

“We introduced this service after observing significant changes in how our customers place food orders,” Country Manager for Bolt Food in Cyprus Kamran Samadli said.

“Cyprus is an important market for us, and we want to ensure our customers are happy and satisfied with our service,” he added.

“At the moment, this service will be available only on selected restaurant partners, but if the trend continues and we see success, then we hope to roll this out across all our restaurants soon,” Samadli concluded.

Bolt has been active in Cyprus since 2018 and currently offers ride-hailing and food delivery services.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, May 16 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 109.92 points at 13:02 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.39 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 66.49 points, representing a rise of 0.41 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €283,425.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative and hotel indexes rose by 0.25 per cent, 0.47 per cent and 0.63 per cent respectively. The investment firm index remained unchanged.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+1.53 per cent), Hellenic Bank (+0.85 per cent), the Cyprus Cement Company (+1.64 per cent), Louis PLC (-2.83 per cent), and KEO (+0.67 per cent).