Cyprus Business Now

Total new loans recorded an increase in May 2022, amounting to €362.9 million in total, according to a report released this week by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

This has been primarily attributed to both an increase in loans of over €1 million and residential loans.

At the same time, the interest rate on mortgages rose to 2.28 per cent, its highest point in approximately three and a half years.

Moreover, the interest rate on deposits from households with an agreed maturity of up to one year remained unchanged at 0.05 per cent.

The corresponding interest rate on deposits from non-financial corporations registered an increase to 0.01 per cent, compared with -0.04 per cent in the previous month.

Regarding lending rates, the interest rate on consumer credit fell to 2.91 per cent, compared with 3 per cent during the previous month.

What is more, the interest rate on loans for house purchases increased to 2.28 per cent, compared with 2.20 per cent in the previous month.

The interest rate on loans to non-financial corporations for amounts of up to €1 million increased to 3.31 per cent, compared with 3.16 per cent in the previous month.

The interest rate on loans to non-financial corporations for amounts of over €1 million rose to 2.97 per cent, compared with 2.45 per cent in the previous month.

Total new loans recorded an increase to €362.9 million in May this year, compared with €264.5 million in the previous month.

Of these, new housing loans rose to €114.7 million, compared with €73.1 million in the previous month.

Cyprus’ trade sector contracted in 2020, according to a report on wholesale and retail published this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

According to the data, turnover in the general trade sector fell by 4.8 per cent in 2020, dropping to €12.67 billion, compared to €13.3 billion in 2019.

The sector’s production value reached €3.260 billion in 2020, recording a 4.3 per cent decrease year-on-year.

In the trade sector as a whole, added value at current prices decreased by 2.2 per cent to €2.07 billion in 2020, down from €2.1 billion in 2019.

In wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, added value decreased by 3.9 per cent to €187.4 million.

In wholesale trade it increased by 0.2 per cent, reaching €922 million, while in retail trade, it fell by 3.9 per cent to €963.3 million.

Finally, employment in the sector fell by 2 per cent in 2020, dropping from 73,600 people to 72,1000 people.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Wednesday, July 6 with profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 66.94 points at 12:51 during the day, reflecting a rise of 015 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 40.04 points, which represents an increase of 0.13 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €24,016.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the alternative index fell by 0.22 per cent, while the main, investment firm and hotel indexes remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+2.71 per cent), Hellenic Bank (-2.5 per cent), the Cyprus Cement Company (no change), KEO (-2.4 per cent) and Logicom (no change).