New loans in Cyprus rose in October, mainly due to increased corporate borrowing over €1 million, which experienced the sharpest drop in lending rates, according to the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC).
The CBC reported that net new loans reached €360 million in October, up from €286.3 million in September.
However, total new loans, which include renegotiations, fell to €533.8 million from €667.9 million the previous month.
Consumer loans declined to €21.3 million (€20.2 million net new loans), down from €30.2 million (€22.4 million net) in September.
Furthermore, home purchase loans decreased slightly to €115.7 million (€96.1 million net) compared to €121.6 million (€96.5 million net) the previous month.
Loans to non-financial corporations for amounts up to €1 million fell to €57.3 million (€41.8 million net), from €63.8 million (€41.2 million net).
Larger corporate loans exceeding €1 million dropped to €333.9 million (€201.8 million net), compared to €400 million (€108.2 million net) in September.
Consumer loan interest rates rose to 8.00 per cent in October, up from 6.50 per cent in September. Home loan rates also edged higher to 4.62 per cent from 4.53 per cent.
In contrast, interest rates for corporate loans declined. Loans for amounts up to €1 million dropped to 5.45 per cent from 5.59 per cent, while loans exceeding €1 million saw a sharper decrease to 4.72 per cent from 5.26 per cent.
Household deposit rates for fixed terms up to one year decreased to 1.76 per cent in October, down from 1.98 per cent the previous month.
Conversely, corporate deposit rates increased slightly to 2.19 per cent from 2.14 per cent.
