In September 2024, 23 uncovered cheques were issued in Cyprus for a total of €72,185, compared to 30 uncovered cheques for a total of €57,129 a month earlier.
This was announced by the Central Bank of Cyprus on Friday 4th October.
The cheques were issued by six companies and eight individuals. The Central Bank said that all the cheques had been added to the preliminary list of the Central Information Repository (CIR), which is maintained by the financial institution. Interestingly, in the corresponding month of 2023, 26 forged cheques were registered for a total amount of €276,202.
In turn, between January and September 2024, a total of 232 uncashed cheques were recorded in the CIR for a total amount of €492,670, compared to 244 cheques for a total amount of €970,120 in the corresponding period of the previous year.
These involved 115 persons (75 legal entities and 40 natural persons). Incidentally, the figures are down and remain well below those recorded in 2014 (€3.361 million), 2013 (€5.673 million) and even 2012 (€7.759 million).
The Central Bank of Cyprus also highlighted that in September 2024 the number of persons registered with the CIR increased to 16 (4 legal persons, 5 natural persons and 7 natural persons controlling legal persons).
In the first nine months of 2024, 163 persons were registered with the CIR, compared with 207 persons in the corresponding period of 2023.
From January 2020 to September 2024, a total of more than one thousand persons were registered in the CIR. Finally, between January 2020 and August 2024, more than two thousand bounced cheques were issued in Cyprus, amounting to more than €6 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.