Non-performing loans (NPLs) in Cyprus remained steady at 9.5 per cent of total loans at the end of January 2023, as in the previous month, while absolute NPL numbers rose by around €13 million, according to a report released this week by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC).

The total allocations at the end of January 2023 were €24.3 billion, compared to €24.36 billion at the end of December 2022, of which €2.32 billion were NPLs, marking an increase of €13 million from NPLs of €2.3 billion at the end of 2022.

The report also showed that loans worth €2.7 billion were restructured, which represented 11.1 per cent of total loans, of which €1.01 billion remain non-performing.

According to the Central Bank of Cyprus, the total accumulated provisions for all banks amount to €1.2 billion, with €1.09 billion relating to NPLs.

Additionally, the total cumulative provisions for NPLs relative to the amount of total non-performing loans stood at 47.2 per cent at the end of January 2023, up from 47.5 per cent at the end of 2022.

Out of the total loans of €24.3 billion, €10.61 billion are loans to households, and €11.98 billion are loans to companies, of which €8.39 billion are loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The NPL rate for households amounted to 12.1 per cent, a total of €1.29 billion. For companies, it stood at 8.1 per cent, a total of €969 million, while for SMEs, it amounted to 9.9 per cent, a total of €835 million.

The data indicates that the NPL rate has remained relatively stable, with only slight fluctuations between the end of 2022 and the end of January 2023.