Loans increase in January outstripping deposits

By Stelios Orphanides

Loans in the banking system rose to almost €64.8bn in January from €61.6bn in December, outstripping deposits which rose to €46.5bn from €46.1bn respectively, the central bank said.

While the increase in loans in the previous month resulted partly from the revaluation of the Swiss franc following a decision by the Swiss National Bank to scrap a cap in the exchange of the Swiss franc vis-à-vis the euro on January 15, the main increase resulted from an increase in loans to other intermediate financial institutions.

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