On Thursday, March 28, the Central Bank of Cyprus released fresh data on loans and deposits for February 2024.
According to the country's main financial institution, the island nation's banking system recorded an increase in new deposits and loans in the second month of 2024.
Deposits
Total cash in deposit accounts with banks in Cyprus increased by €65.4 million in February 2024, compared to a net decrease of €366 million in January 2024. The annualized growth rate was 0.3% compared to 0.8% a month earlier. The deposit balance reached €52 billion in February 2024.
The Central Bank of Cyprus emphasized that the growth in total deposits was mainly due to a net increase in Cypriot deposits of €101.8 million. Meanwhile, household deposits increased by €41.2 million and non-financial companies' deposits decreased by €63 million. Deposits of the other domestic sectors increased by €123.7 million in February 2024.
Loans
As regards total loans, an increase of €348.9 million was recorded, compared with a net decrease of €122.9 million in January 2024.
The annualized rate of change in February 2024 was 1.5% compared to 0.4% a month earlier. Total loan balances in February 2024 reached the €25 billion mark.
It is worth noting that from January 2021 to January 2024, the maximum outflow of funds from Cypriot banks occurred in March 2022 (-1.071 billion euros), while the largest inflow occurred in December 2022 (+586.3 million euros).
Loans to Cypriot residents in February 2024 increased by €77.9 million. At the same time, looking in more detail, loans to households decreased by €3.9 million, while loans to non-financial companies recorded an increase of €60.6 million. Loans to other sectors of the economy showed a total growth of 21.2 million euros.