The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) this week announced that it has decided to retain the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) at 1 per cent, in accordance with the Macroprudential Supervision of Institutions Laws from 2015 to 2022, with implementation effective from June 2, 2024.

As per the official announcement by the Central Bank of Cyprus, this decision was part of the latest resolution, dated June 2, 2023.

Building on this recent decision and previous resolutions concerning the same matter, the rate of the countercyclical capital buffer set at 0.5 per cent since November 30, 2023, is further increased to 1 per cent effective from June 2, 2024.

An official delegation from the European Investment Bank (EIB), led by Vice President Kyriakos Kakouris, is scheduled to visit Cyprus on Friday with the intention of finalising four loan agreements.

According to the Ministry of Finance, among the agreements is a deal between the EIB and the Republic of Cyprus for the first instalment of a €130 million loan.

This loan is allocated for financing projects and programs co-funded by the European Union’s Cohesion Policy Funds for the programming period of 2021-2027, specifically within the Thalia 2021-2027 programme.

Additionally, loan agreements between the EIB and the Sewerage Boards of Nicosia, Larnaca, and Limassol-Amathus are set to be signed.

These agreements will total up to €100 million aimed at financing sewerage projects falling under the implementation program of Council Directive 91/271/EEC of May 21, 1991, concerning urban wastewater treatment.

The signing of these agreements is scheduled to take place at the Ministry of Finance on December 22.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Thursday, December 21 with minor profits.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 136.65 points at 13:23 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.01 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 82.94 points, representing a rise of 0.01 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €28,363 until the aforementioned time during trading.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and investment firm indexes fell by 0.24 per cent and 0.68 per cent respectively. The alternative index rose by 0.61 per cent while the hotel index remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by Hellenic Bank (no change), the Cyprus Cement Company (-0.71 per cent), Logicom (no change), Demetra (-0.7 per cent), and Kithreotis (no change).