Spike in renegotiated corporate loans over €1 mln

A surge in renegotiated corporate loans over €1 mln pushed new loan contracts in March 2021 to a 91% increase compared with February, Central Bank of Cyprus data show.

Pure new loans in the Cyprus banking system registered an increase of 23.8% in March from February, amounting to €255 mln.

According to the CBC, housing loans rose to €85.6 mln in March, accounting for one-third of pure new credit for the month.

Housing loans are buoyed by a government scheme subsidizing new mortgage loans to reduce the impact of the covid pandemic.

New credit to companies over €1 mln amounted to €81.7 mln in March, while new corporate credit to companies up to €1 mln reached €57 mln.

Pure consumer credit in March reached €14.2 mln while other pure loans were €16.4 mln.

Total restructured loans were €356.6 mln with renegotiated corporate loans over €1 mln at €295 mln, accounting for 82% of renegotiated loans.

Renegotiated loans up to €1 mln amounted to €34 mln, renegotiated mortgages rose to €19 mln, while renegotiated consumer and other loans were €4 mln and €4.5 mln, respectively.

Moreover, deposit interest rates remained at historic low levels.

The interest rate on deposits from households with an agreed maturity of up to one year remained unchanged at 0.08% in March.

The interest rate on deposits from non-financial corporations registered a decline to 0.08%, from 0.13% in the previous month.

The interest rate on consumer credit decreased to 2.92%, from 3.11% the previous month, the interest rate on mortgages rose to 2.17% from 2.15% in February.

The interest rate on loans to non-financial corporations for amounts up to €1 mln increased to 3.34%, from 3.19%.

Loan rates to non-financial corporations for amounts over €1 mln rose to 3.37%, compared with 2.48% the previous month.