Filenews 1 June 2025 - by Theano Thipoulou
There is money in Cyprus and it is a lot, if one considers that part of the liquidity circulating in the market is directed to the banks in the form of deposits, which in April were close to half a billion.
Specifically, savings in April recorded a net increase of €492.9 million, compared to a net decrease of €66.3 million in March 2025, while in April last year the increase was €209.1 million
The annual rate of change in total deposits reached 7.6%, compared to 7.1% in March 2025. The balance of total deposits in April 2025 reached €56.1 billion, according to data published by the Central Bank.
Essentially, the banks, without doing anything special – they don't offer attractive interest rates to attract deposits – collect money every month, part of which they will have to give to the economy in the form of loans to households and businesses. The situation has so far been complicated by lending conditions, something that is expected to change according to the latest bank lending survey in which bankers' expectations are expressed. The goal of banks is not just to accept deposits and profit from interest rates, but to convert them into loans.
The question could arise, is the money that goes into the banks from Cypriots or from foreigners, from individuals or businesses? The Central Bank's data show that the difference is made by deposits of domestic residents, which increased by €410.5 million, of non-residents, by €42.8 million and residents of European countries €29.6 million. Of the deposits of domestic residents deposited with banks in April, €173.1 million is equal distributed among businesses and households €172.2 million.
Deposits from the category of other intermediaries were €119.1 million, from central government €22 million, while outflows of €0.7 million were recorded from insurance companies and pension funds.
In its analyses from time to time, the Central Bank attributes the increase in deposits by businesses to the positive course of the Cypriot economy and the stimulation of business revenues. On the household side, the positive trend is linked to the positive impact of the de-escalation of inflation and continued resilience in the labour market, which contributed to income support.
Total loans in April 2025 recorded a net increase of €169.1 million, much smaller than the €492 million deposits taken by banks, while in March lending showed a net increase of €429.9 million. The annual rate of change in total loans reached 4.9%, compared to 3.1% in March 2025. If the comparison is made with April 2024, the picture of borrowing this year is much better, since last year the sign was negative -€278.6 million. The balance of total loans in April 2025 reached €25.6 billion. Loans to Cypriot residents increased by €13 million. More specifically, loans to households increased by €27.7 million, while loans to non-financial corporations recorded a decrease of €12.8 million. Loans from the other domestic sectors showed a total decrease of €1.9 million.
