The reduction in deposits was mainly on a €223.8m outflow compared to December from accounts belonging to other financial intermediaries, reducing their overall balance to €5.7bn, the Central Bank of Cyprus said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.

Non-financial corporations and households saw their balance fall by €156.6m and €151.7m to €11.1bn and €28.7bn respectively. Insurance corporations and pension funds saw their balance rise by €7.8m to €1.9bn while the general government’s deposits fell by €32.9m to over €1bn.

The increase in lending last month was mainly on €81m in fresh loans extended to non-financial firms raising their total loans to €20.7bn, the central bank added.

Total household credit fell by €16.8m to €21.6bn, as a €18.3m increase in consumer credit could only partly offset the reduction of housing loans and other lending to households by €29.8m and €5.3m respectively. Loans to other financial intermediaries and the general government fell by €7.5m and €4.3m to €8bn and €759.7m respectively.

Source: Cyprus Mail