Portfolio Investment assets at €22.8 billion in 2020

The total stock of Portfolio Investments (PI) assets dropped to €22.8 billion in 2020 marking an annual reduction of 7% compared with €24.5 billion the year before, reflecting the decrease recorded in equity and investment fund shares and to a lesser extent in short-term debt securities investments made by residents abroad, the Central Bank of Cyprus has said.

Debt securities assets totalled €13.249,7 million in 2020, representing 58% of total portfolio assets compared with 52% in 2019, and equity and investment fund shares totalled €9.562,4 million in assets in 2020, accounting for 42% of total portfolio assets, compared to 48% for 2019.

In terms of investment destinations related to PI assets for 2020, Russia had the largest share with 57% of assets, followed by Ireland with 11%, Luxemburg with 10% and the USA with 8% and the remaining 14% in other countries.

According to the CBC, the main sectors contributing to the changes in assets during the year were the “Other Sectors” with negative flows of €1.909,9 million, MFIs with positive flows of €955,4 million and the Central Bank with negative flows of €737,5 million, with degrease mainly reflecting changes in exchange rate changes of equity holdings.

Furthermore, total income receivable from debt securities stood at €298,5 million in 2020, decreasing from €315,9 million in 2019 despite the increase in stocks of debt securities, reflecting the falling interest rates in the global economy, resulting in lower coupon rates and interest received on bonds issued abroad.

According to the CBC, income from equity securities totalled €280,1 million in 2020, thus recording a significant decrease from €507,6 million in 2019 following a drop in the income from investments in Russian listed equities.