Bond yields continue to drop

Cyprus’ 10-year bond yields resumed their downward course in the past week — almost reaching 5.0 per cent — after the upward trend in the cost of borrowing registered mid May due to the turbulence in international markets.

The turmoil before the European parliament elections led to an increase in the cost of borrowing of European states but mainly those in adjustment programmes.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, the island’s 10-year bond, which matures in 2020, fell to 5.001 per cent at the end of the day Wednesday.

On April 10 the yield fell under 5.0 per cent for the first time in the past three years at least – 4.98 per cent. On May 22 it rose to 5.212 per cent.

Recent ratings upgrades and positive evaluations from the island’s international lenders contributed to the fall.

Cypriot 10-year bonds registered a record high on June 14, 2012, reaching 14.6 per cent, around 10 days before the island requested a bailout.

It started dropping after that but spiked again in March 2013 when the Eurogroup decided to seize bank deposits.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.