The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBK) has agreed and the Cabinet approved another moratorium on loan repayments – vacations for borrowers will last until the end of June. Their target audience is those who did not take advantage of the previous grace period, which ended in December, as well as those who took advantage but did not choose the full nine months of vacation.

The CBC notes that the consent to the moratorium was given “to mitigate the impact of the restrictive measures on businesses, households and the banking sector in order to protect and strengthen the country’s financial stability.”
A prerequisite for eligibility for the deferral of payments is the absence of loan arrears in the last 30 days at the end of December.

The moratorium will also apply to loans secured by primary residential real estate not exceeding 350,000 euros.

The CBC has also decided to extend the practice of relaxing the criteria for granting loans until the end of March. This way, businesses and households will have access to short-term loans and, therefore, the liquidity needed to cover current liabilities. Banks will continue to be more loyal to assess the solvency of the borrower and the documentation required to obtain the loan.