A monthly €177.5m increase in non-performing loans of non-financial corporations in April, to €8.8bn, was offset by a €33.3m drop in household bad debts, and €146.3m in other financial corporations, the central bank said in a statement on Thursday. Household and other financial companies’ delinquent loans dropped to €10.8bn and €291.9m respectively. The non-performing loan ratio fell marginally, to 42.9%.

The number of loans with more than 90 days in arrears rose in April by €285.7m on a monthly basis, to €15.6bn, mainly on a €225.3m increase in corporate loans, the central bank said. The amount of restructured loans fell by €113m, to €11.3bn, mainly on a €147.4m reduction in restructured facilities in other financial companies.

The amount of restructured loans that show no arrears rose by €13m in April compared to March, to €8.3bn, and makes up 73.3% of restructured facilities, the central bank said. Total provisions for loan impairments in the system fell by €13.9m, to €9.7bn.

The sale of the healthy operations of the Cyprus Cooperative Bank to Hellenic Bank and the transformation of the residual Co-op into a body tasked with managing its delinquent loan portfolio of €7bn is expected to reduce non-performing loans in the system to around €12bn by the end of the year.

Source: Cyprus Mail