BoC to cut interest rates  

Bank of Cyprus (BoC) announced it would be lowering its debit interest base rates by 0.25 per cent starting on Monday.

BoC said it was lowering its base rate from 5.25 per cent to 5.0 per cent, its housing loan rate to 3.25 per cent from 3.50 per cent, and its business loan rate from 4.25 per cent to 4.0 per cent.

“Customers will directly benefit from the Base Rate reduction as it will be applied to 38,000 housing loans, 77,000 current accounts and 200,000 other personal/business loans,” the lender said.

The decision was part of the bank’s commitment to support and strengthen the island’s economy.

The announcement came two days after the bank, forced to seize clients’ deposits to recapitalise last year, raised €1.0 billion in fresh capital.

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.