BOCY cuts ELA further

The Bank of Cyprus has reduced the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) it inherited from now-bankrupt Laiki by a further 100 mln euros in March to 3.3 bln.

According to Central Bank of Cyprus data, the Bank of Cyprus ELA dropped to EUR 3.3 bln from 3.4 bln in February and 3.5 bln in January 2016.

At the end of December 2015, the ELA stood at EUR 3.8 bln, a third of the 11.4 bln in April 2013 shortly after the haircut was imposed on unsecured bank deposits, a bail-in was enforced to rescue the bank that was burdened with the huge debts accumulated at Laiki.

In addition, the dependence of the Cypriot banking system on monetary policy operations (direct financing from the European Central Bank) decreased in March 2016 by EUR 130 mln, compared to February, reaching 736 mln, the central bank said.