New lending by Cypriot banks rose significantly in January, driven mainly by large corporate loans, over €1 million, according to data released the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Monday.

Pure new loans (excluding renegotiations) in January 2024 amounted to €220 million up by 47% compared to €149 million in January last year.

The sizeable annual increase is attributed to the low level of new corporate loans over €1 million in January last year, just at €17.4 million, whereas they recovered at 83.3 million (up by an annual 379%) in January this year. Large corporate lending traditionally attracts the largest share of new lending in Cyprus.

Housing loans, which present the second largest share in new lending, dropped by an annual 6% to €72 million in January 2024 from €76 million in January 2023.

According to the CBC, corporate new lending up to €1 million rose by 5% to €41 million in January 2024 compared with €38 million in the respective period of last year.

New consumer lending amounted to €20 million marking an annual increase of 65% compared with €12 million in January 2023, whereas new “other” loans dropped by 17% to €4.4 million in January 2024 from €5.3 million in the respective period of last year.