Non-performing loans in the Cyprus banking sector declined to €1.9 billion in the end of 2023, dropping by €0.41 billion or 19% compared with the year before.

According to data released by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC), compared with November 2023, NPLs declined by €106 million. As a percentage of total loans NPLs amounted to 7.9% by end-2023, compared with 9.5% in end-2022.

Loans in arrears over 90 days (excluding restructured loans waiting to be reclassified as performing) in the end of 2023 amounted to €1.47 billion compared with €1.83 in the end of 2022 and €1.56 billion in November 2022, the CBC said.

The NPL coverage ratio in the end of 2023 amounted to 49.5%.

Furthermore, of the total NPLs, €1.07 billion were held by households and €0.8 billion were corporate NPLs, of which €0.7 billion belong to small and medium sized corporations. The coverage ratio for household NPLs stood at 37.6% whereas 64.8% of the corporate NPLs were covered by provisions.

According to the CBC, restructured facilities in end of 2023 amounted to €1.47 billion compared with €1.73 the previous month. Of those €0.85 billion continued to be classified as non-performing, the CBC added.