Λεμεσός  – Bank of Cyprus Public Company Ltd announced last week that it has fully repaid the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) funding it has been receiving from the Central Bank of Cyprus.

Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades has congratulated the Bank on the full repayment of ELA saying that “this is a significant development which reaffirms the strengthening of the bank and the restoration of confidence in the banking system of our country.”

ELA peaked at €11.4 bln in April 2013, after the bank absorbed assets of Laiki Bank which went into liquidation, along with €9.4 bln ELA liability.

Since the events of March 2013, the Bank has repaid €11.4 bln of ELA in total, the bulk of which was transferred to the Bank from Laiki Bank, in accordance with the ‘Sale of Certain Operations of Cyprus Popular Bank Public Co Ltd Decree of 2013’. During 2016 and early 2017 the Bank repaid €3.8 bln of ELA.

Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Cyprus Group, John Patrick Hourican, commented: “The full repayment of ELA funding has been a strategic objective of the Bank over the past three years and signifies the normalisation of the Bank’s funding structure. This should further strengthen stakeholders’ confidence that the Bank is becoming a stronger, safer and a more focused institution capable of delivering appropriate shareholder returns over the medium term.”

The full repayment of ELA comes as the bank’s shares trading on the London Stock Exchange begins on 19 January 2017.