ACCORDING to figures released on Tuesday, property loans have surged by 33%. The loan portfolios of the Cyprus banks grew by 34.86% in August compared with 35.24% in July and 21.9% in August 2007. Loans totalling €49.8 billon were granted compared with €36.9 billion in August 2007.
Consumer loans grew by 38% while business loans, the biggest category, recorded an annual increase of 45%. The loans grew in spite of interest rate increases, which in some cases have pushed up the cost of borrowing by 10 base points.
Unlike some banking systems in other parts of the world, the domestic banks in Cyprus have €6.5 billion more deposits than loans, due to investments by foreign companies.
