Pure new lending in Cyprus declined to €1.3 billion in January – August 2020 with new credit adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to data released by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) pure new lending for January – August marked an annual reduction of 44.5% with April during the two-month lock down, imposed in March, declining to €84 million, the lowest in the current year so far.
Total new loans, including renegotiated loan contracts amounted to €1.92 billion compared with €2.92 billion in the respective period of last year.
For the period of January – August 2020, the majority of pure new lending came from loans over €1 million which amounted to €509 million, reduced in half compared with the respective period of 2019, while loans for house purchase followed with €424 million compared with €600 million in the corresponding period of last year.
According to the CBC, loans up to €1 billion declined to €209 million for the period of January – August 2020 from €299 million in the respective period of last year, while other lending amounted to €91 million compared with €142 million in January – August 2019. New consumer credit marked the lowest annual impact declining to €90 million from €106 million in January – August 2019.
In August, pure new lending amounted to €158 million compared to €236 million in August 2019 marking an annual reduction of 33%. Compared to July 2020 new lending in August marked a reduction of 19%.