The Cyprus banking system’s exposure to ECB’s emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) declined by €300 million to €3.5 billion, in January 2016 from €3.8 billion in December 2015, according to a Central Bank’s balance sheet.
ELA is held by Bank of Cyprus (BoC), the island’s largest lender. Compared with January 2015 ELA recorded a reduction of €3.9 billion, whereas compared with April 2013 where ELA exposure peaked in €11.4 billion, ELA declined by €7.9 billion.
ELA peaked in April 2013 after BoC absorbed of the operations of Laiki bank, Cyprus’ second largest lender, which has been wound down, along with its ELA exposures.
Lending from the ECB’s monetary operations in January €890 million from €886 million in December 2015.
The ECB’s total assets in January 2016 amounted to €12.02 billion.
Source: InCyprus
