New lending by Cypriot banks rose significantly in January, driven mainly by large corporate loans, over pound 1 million, according to data released the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Monday.
Pure new loans (excluding renegotiations) in January 2024 amounted to pound 220 million up by 47% compared to pound 149 million in January last year.
The sizeable annual increase is attributed to the low level of new corporate loans over pound 1 million in January last year, just at pound 17.4 million, whereas they recovered at 83.3 million (up by an annual 379%) in January this year. Large corporate lending traditionally attracts the largest share of new lending in Cyprus.
Housing loans, which present the second largest share in new lending, dropped by an annual 6% to pound 72 million in January 2024 from pound 76 million in January 2023.
According to the CBC, corporate new lending up to pound 1 million rose by 5% to pound 41 million in January 2024 compared with pound 38 million in the respective period of last ye
ar.
New consumer lending amounted to pound 20 million marking an annual increase of 65% compared with pound 12 million in January 2023, whereas new ‘other’ loans dropped by 17% to pound 4.4 million in January 2024 from pound 5.3 million in the respective period of last year.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
