The Columbia Group is set to acquire the Secret Valley resort from Bank of Cyprus’ real estate management unit (REMU) in a deal valued at over €130 million, it emerged on Monday.

According to Economy Today, who first ran the story, the transaction, finalised after nearly four months of negotiations, is the largest ever recorded on the island, marking a new chapter for both the investor and the seller.

Secret Valley, formerly known as Venus Rock Golf Resort, lies between Limassol and Paphos, next to Aphrodite Hills, and spans approximately five million square metres of prime coastal land.

Cyprus posted a general government surplus of €551.2 million for the period of January to May 2025, representing 1.6 per cent of GDP, according to preliminary data released by the Statistical Service of Cyprus (Cystat) on Monday.

This marks a slight increase from the €542.6m surplus recorded during the same period in 2024, which also stood at 1.6 per cent of GDP.

Total government revenue for the first five months of 2025 rose by €310.8m. an increase of 5.6 per cent, reaching €5.9 billion compared to €5.59 billion in the corresponding period of 2024.

The European Commission on Monday endorsed a positive preliminary assessment of Cyprus’ fourth payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the central pillar of the European Union’s NextGenerationEU recovery programme.

The request, valued at €75.9 million, was submitted by Cyprus on December 18, 2024.

Following its evaluation, the commission has preliminarily concluded that Cyprus has satisfactorily met all 23 milestones and targets outlined in the Council Implementing Decision for this fifth instalment of funding.

Cyprus must urgently decouple renewable energy prices from volatile fossil fuel costs to ensure stability and fairness in its electricity market, according to energy systems expert and former Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority chairman Andreas Poullikkas.

Poullikkas mentioned that Cyprus is preparing to implement the European Target Model in its electricity sector.

He described the move as “one of the most significant steps for aligning the country with EU energy policies”.

Cyprus has been ranked among the 15 European countries most affected by digital payment fraud, despite recording one of the lowest overall loss totals and fraud case counts, according to new analysis of European Banking Authority data by BrokerChooser.

In the first half of 2023, Cyprus reported 9,164 cases of payment fraud, resulting in total financial losses of €2.8 million.

While the absolute figures remain relatively modest compared to larger economies, the average loss per incident stood at €311, placing Cyprus 14th among the 27 countries studied.

Cyprus saw a sharp rise in the registration of saloon passenger cars in May 2025, with the figure reaching 3,715, up 11.7 per cent compared with May 2024.

This was also notably higher than April’s 2,924 units, according to data published by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

During the first five months of 2025, registrations of saloon passenger cars dropped by 5.5 per cent to 16,224, from 17,176 in the same period last year.

Cyprus ranked among the top household consumers in the EU, with per capita expenditure reaching 21,879 PPS in 2024, according to a recent Eurostat survey that compared household consumption across member states using purchasing power standards (PPS).

The survey, which evaluates material well-being through real consumption per capita adjusted for price differences across countries, revealed that Luxembourg topped the list with a staggering 28,731 PPS per inhabitant.

Following Luxembourg, the highest levels of average household expenditure were recorded in Ireland (23,534 PPS), Belgium (23,437 PPS), Germany (23,333 PPS), Austria (23,094 PPS), the Netherlands (22,805 PPS), Denmark (22,078 PPS), Italy (21,986 PPS), and Cyprus (21,879 PPS).

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) on Monday released a statement formally welcoming Eurobank Group’s intention to pursue a dual listing of its shares on the CSE.

The CSE described the move as a sign of trust in both the Cypriot economy and the island’s capital markets.

“We at the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) welcome the Eurobank Group’s intention for a dual listing of its shares on the Cyprus Stock Exchange, as announced by the group on Friday, June 27, 2025, at the Athens Stock Exchange, where its titles are currently primarily listed,” said CSE council chairman Marinos Christodoulides.