Total nonperforming loans (NPLs) in Cyprus’ banking sector saw no significant change in November 2021, reaching 4.24 billion euros from €4.26 billion the previous month, according to data released on Friday by the Central Bank of Cyprus.
Loans due more than 90 days, classified as NPLs, showed a small increase for the second consecutive month and amounted to €3.3 billion in November from €3.28 billion in the previous month.
Since the end of 2020, NPLs showed a decrease of €840 million, mainly reflecting the sales of bad loans by the Bank of Cyprus.
Total loans in November amounted to €28 billion from €27.9 billion in the previous month. As a percentage of all loans, NPLs stood at 15.1% from 15.3% in the previous month, while the percentage of net NPLs in total loans remained unchanged at 11.8%.
Corporate NPLs remained unchanged at €1.76 billion in November, while bad household loans fell slightly to €2.17 billion from €2.18 billion last month. Household NPLs were 51% of all NPLs, while corporate NPLs came to 41.5%. The coverage rate of corporate NPLs amounted to 57.2%, while that of household NPLs amounted to 41%.
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Cyprus has not opposed proposals to cut Russia off from the SWIFT global payment system, Cypriot Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said on Saturday.
“In the name of EU unity and solidarity to Ukrainian people Cyprus has NOT objected to ANY EU sanctions including cutting Russia off Swift,” Petrides said in a Twitter post.
He was responding to some speculation that Cyprus, which has extensive business links with both Russia and Ukraine, was among countries with reservations about quickly ejecting Moscow from SWIFT.
“Everything is on the table,” Petrides tweeted.
The governor of a central bank within the euro zone told Reuters on Saturday that a decision to cut Russia off from SWIFT would be taken in a matter of days.