On Friday, January 27, the Central Bank of Cyprus released fresh data on loans and deposits for December 2023.
According to the country's main financial institution, the island nation's banking system recorded a significant increase in new deposits and loans in the last month of 2023.
Deposits
Total cash in deposit accounts in December 2023 at banks in Cyprus rose by €346 million, compared to a net increase of €91.7 million in November 2023. The annual growth rate was 0.4% compared to 0.9% one month earlier. The deposit balance reached €52.2 billion in December 2023.
The Central Bank of Cyprus emphasized that the increase in total deposits was mainly due to a net increase of €388 million in Cypriot deposits. At the same time, household deposits increased by €461 million, while deposits of local non-financial companies, on the contrary, decreased by €252 million. Deposits of the other domestic sectors increased by €179 million in December.
Loans
Concerning total loans, a net increase of €284.2 million was recorded, compared with a net increase of €15 million in November 2023.
The annual rate of change in December 2023 amounted to 0.7% versus -0.2% a month earlier. Total loan balances in December 2023 reached the €24.8 billion mark.
It is worth noting that from January 2021 to November 2023, the maximum outflow of funds from Cypriot banks occurred in March 2022 (EUR -1.071 billion), while the largest inflow occurred in December 2022 (+€ 586.3 million).
Loans to Cypriot residents in December 2023 increased by €132.9 million. Looking in more detail, loans to households increased by €99 million and loans to non-financial companies by €54.5 million. Loans to the rest of the economy showed an overall decrease of €20.6 million.