Filenews 12 June 2025 - by Theano Thiopoulou
Deposits in Cypriot banks are almost equally divided into guaranteed and unsecured deposits, in the event of a credit institution's bankruptcy, according to recently published data from the European Banking Authority for 2024.
Total deposits in Cypriot banks in 2024 amounted to €55.90 billion. and guaranteed deposits amounted to €28.69 billion, while the remaining amount of €27.21 billion amounted to €27.21 billion. was not covered for compensation of depositors in the event of bank failure.
The available funds in the Deposit Guarantee Fund were €222.70 million. in 2024, to €210.41 million. in 2023, to €189.91 million. in 2022, from €174.5 million. in 2021 and €78 million. in 2020.
The data show that in 2023 guaranteed deposits were €27.89 billion. out of a total of €52.15 billion, in 2022 it was €27.42 billion. out of total deposits of €52.12 billion. In 2021, guaranteed deposits, according to the data, were €27.22 billion, in 2020 at €26.61 billion, in 2019 at €26.11 billion, in 2018 at €26.01 billion, in 2017 at €16.80 billion, in 2016 at €15.78 billion. and in 2015 to €15.10 billion.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published extensive data for 2024 related to two key concepts and the indicators of the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (DGSD), namely the financial instruments available in national deposit guarantee schemes and the covered deposits protected by them.
The Bank of Cyprus in its announcement of results for the first quarter of 2025 states that as of 31 March 2025 customer deposits are mostly from individuals and 55% of deposits are protected by the Deposit Guarantee Fund.
Hellenic Bank notes in its first-quarter results that the group has a mainly retail customer deposit base and approximately 66% of total customer deposits are protected by the deposit guarantee scheme as of March 31, 2025.
The EBA publishes this data on an annual basis to enhance transparency and public accountability for the benefit of depositors, markets, policymakers, Deposit Guarantee Schemes (DGS) and Member States. The EBA notes that after a 10-year accumulation phase, EU DGS funds have reached a total of €79 billion in available funds.
The Deposit Allocation Directive (DEGSD) ensures adequate protection for depositors in the event of bank failure, guaranteeing that deposits up to a certain level will always be repaid, even if the bank holding them fails within seven days. Covered deposits are guaranteed up to €100,000 or the equivalent in other currencies per depositor at each bank.
Data as of 31 December 2024 show that, compared to 2023, the amount of covered deposits across the EU increased further by 3.2%, to €8.6 trillion, following increases of 1.7% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2022. In Greece, guaranteed deposits increased to €142.9 billion. from €140 billion in 2023 and the available funds in the Deposit Guarantee Fund increased to €1.8 billion. from €1.7 billion.
