According to new data released by the European Central Bank on Friday 6th December Cyprus ranks second among EU countries whose residents make deposits at the lowest rates.
In particular, the average interest rate for deposits of up to one year for households in Cyprus is 1.76%.
The situation is only worse in Slovenia. Residents of this country open deposit accounts at 1.59%. At the same time, the average deposit rate for households in the euro area is 2.74%.
On the other hand, depositors in Italy (3.69%), Estonia (3.42%) and Finland (3.15%) have the highest interest rates. The average interest rate in Greece was 1.84%.
The corresponding rate for Cyprus is 2.19% for deposits of non-financial corporations and 3.06% for deposits of enterprises.
The average interest rate on mortgage loans in Cyprus is 4.29%.
This compares with a rate of 3.5% in the euro area. In Greece, the average interest rate on housing loans is 3.77 percent.
The interest rate on loans to enterprises in Cyprus, at 5.7 %, is the tenth highest in the euro area. Finally, the average interest rate for consumer loans in Cyprus is 8%. The highest rate is found in Latvia (13.96%).