In June 2024, 12 uncovered cheques were issued in Cyprus for a total amount of €13,048 thousand, compared to 23 uncovered cheques for a total amount of €36,91 thousand in the previous month.
This was announced by the Central Bank of Cyprus on Thursday 4th July.
The cheques were issued by 6 companies and 4 individuals. The Central Bank noted that all the cheques were added to the preliminary list of the Central Information Repository (CIR), which is maintained by the financial institution.
In turn, between January and June 2024, a total of 143 uncovered cheques worth €302,947,000 were registered in the CIR, involving 70 persons (47 legal entities and 23 natural persons). This confirms a significant reduction compared to the same period last year, when a total of 197 uncovered cheques were registered for a total of 503,094 thousand euros. At the same time, the current figure remains significantly lower than that recorded in 2014 (3.361 million euros), as well as in 2013 (5.673 million euros) and even more so in 2012 (7.759 million euros).
The Central Bank of Cyprus also highlighted that in June 2024, the number of persons registered in the CIR increased to 7 (2 legal entities, 1 natural person and 4 natural persons controlling legal entities). In the first six months of 2024, 108 persons were registered in the CIR, compared with 158 persons in the corresponding period of 2023.
From January 2020 to May 2024, a total of 995 persons (360 legal persons, 199 natural persons and 436 natural persons controlling legal persons) were registered in the CIR. Finally, from January 2020 to June 2024, 1,789 thousand bounced cheques were issued in Cyprus for an amount of €5.265 million.
The Central Bank of Cyprus stresses that it is closely monitoring the situation and urges individuals and businesses to exercise financial prudence so as not to contribute to this growing problem.