Cyprus bank deposits rise by €164.7 million in July — loans fall slightly

Total deposits in the Cypriot banking system saw a net increase of €164.7 million in July, reversing the €44.1 million decrease from June, according to a report released on Wednesday from the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC).

The CBC’s monthly report on Monetary and Financial Institutions (MFIs) for July 2024 includes revised figures for the period from December 2023 to June 2024, following an audit of the MFIs’ financial statements for 2023.

In July, the annual growth rate for total deposits improved to 2.9 per cent from 2.0 per cent in the previous month, bringing the cumulative total of deposits to €53.4 billion.

Focusing on domestic deposits, those of Cyprus residents increased by €230.7 million. Within this category, there was a decrease of €59.9 million in household deposits.

However, this decline was more than offset by a robust rise of €217.4 million in deposits from non-financial corporations.

Furthermore, deposits from other domestic sectors—including investment funds, other financial intermediaries, financial auxiliaries, captive financial institutions and money lenders, insurance corporations and pension funds, and the general government—collectively surged by €73.2 million.

Conversely, total loans in July 2024 experienced a net decrease of €7.2 million, a reversal from the net increase of €234.6 million in June.

Despite this decline, the annual growth rate of total loans edged slightly higher to 2 per cent, up from 1.6 per cent in the previous month, with the outstanding loan balance standing at €25 billion.

Loans to Cyprus residents decreased by €139 million; however, loans to households increased by €16.2 million, while loans to non-financial corporations fell by €136.5 million.

Finally, the CBC reported that loans to other domestic sectors declined by €18.7 million.