The Bank of Cyprus has shared its financial results for the first nine months of 2025. The country's biggest bank made a profit of €353 million. However, this is 12% less than it made during the same time last year. The bank's CEO, Panicos Nicolaou, said this is mainly because they earned less money from interest.
Even with lower profits, the bank is doing well in other important areas. It gave out many more new loans, and the number of loans that people are not repaying is at a record low. Because of this strong performance, the bank is now more confident about its full-year profit. It also recently paid a dividend to its shareholders.
At the same time, a political party in Cyprus, AKEL, wants to introduce a special tax on bank profits for 2025 and 2026. They call it a "solidarity levy." AKEL says banks are making a lot of extra money from high interest rates, while ordinary people and small businesses struggle with expensive loans and inflation. This is not a new idea; a similar proposal failed in parliament last year. Banks argue that this kind of tax could make Cyprus less attractive to foreign investors.
The Bank of Cyprus's share price has grown a lot in the past year. This shows that investors feel positive about the bank's future. However, the new tax plan creates some uncertainty. The coming debate in parliament will show if the government chooses to tax bank profits more to support society, or if it will continue to support a strong banking sector.