COVID19: Bank new lending declined by 33% in March

Pure new bank lending in Cyprus declined by 33% in March compared with the previous month, as the lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak began to bite.

According to the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) data, pure new lending declined to €131 mln in March compared with €196 mln in February.

However, total new lending which includes renegotiated loans declined by only €17 mln to €281.7 mln due to the inflow of renegotiated corporate loans above €1 mln.

Pure new consumer lending remained essentially unchanged at €12.5 mln in March.

New loans for house purchases declined to €42.2 mln in March from €60.2 mln in the previous month, with renegotiated loans amounting to €14.1 mln from €19.5 mln in February.

Corporate loans up to €1 mln declined to €23.8 mln in March from €29.1 mln in the previous month, with renegotiated loans remaining relatively stable at €7.1 mln from €7.5 mln in February.

Large corporate new lending over €1 mln marked a reduction of €34.5 mln to €43.5 mln.

However, renegotiated loans jumped to €125.4 mln in March compared with €71 mln in the previous month.

Furthermore, interest rates for deposits for households with an agreed maturity of up to one year declined to 0.11%, compared with 0.14% in the previous month, while the corresponding interest rate on deposits from non-financial corporations remained unchanged at 0.10%.

The interest rate on consumer credit decreased to 2.99%, compared with 3.10% in the previous month, while the interest rate on loans for house purchases recorded an increase to 2.10% from 2.04% in the previous month.

The interest rate on loans to non-financial corporations for amounts up to €1 mln rose to 3.18%, compared with 3.06% in the previous month, with the interest rate on loans to non-financial corporations for amounts over €1 mln increased to 3.05% from 3%.