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Central Bank Of Cyprus Reports €28 Billion In Total Assets And Liabilities

The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) today disclosed that its total assets and liabilities have reached €27.99 billion as of the end of February 2026. In a detailed balance sheet release, the bank outlined the composition of its portfolio, underscoring stronger intra-Eurosystem positioning and diversified liabilities.

Strategic Asset Allocation

The financial institution’s balance sheet revealed that intra-Eurosystem claims constituted the bulk of its assets, totaling €18.33 billion. Equally significant, the CBC’s holdings in gold and gold receivables were valued at €1.64 billion, reinforcing its traditional store-of-value strategy. Smaller segments include claims on residents outside the euro area denominated in foreign currency at €1.10 billion, compared with €0.59 billion in euro-denominated claims on the same group.

Diverse Portfolio Components

Securities of euro area residents denominated in euros totaled €6.17 billion. Additional components included €0.02 billion in foreign currency claims on euro area residents and €0.14 billion classified as other assets. These figures reflect the distribution of assets across different categories.

Liabilities And Monetary Policy Operations

On the liabilities side, the CBC reported that monetary policy operations with credit institutions dominated, amounting to €17.12 billion. Additionally, the bank accounted for €3.22 billion in banknotes in circulation alongside €3.73 billion owed to the general government. Future risk provisions and revaluation accounts were maintained at €0.60 billion and €1.64 billion respectively, ensuring a buffer for volatility in evolving market conditions.

Capital And International Obligations

Capital and reserve holdings stood at €0.33 billion, supporting the institution’s ongoing financial solidity. Moreover, the bank recognized €0.49 billion as liabilities linked to the special drawing rights allocated by the International Monetary Fund, reflecting its engagements on the international stage.

Overall, the CBC’s comprehensive disclosure provides a clear roadmap of its asset allocation and liability management, reinforcing its role as a key pillar in the region’s financial stability.

Cypriot Startup LIVIA Wins Europe’s Top Youth Entrepreneurship Competition

A Cypriot university team has won the European GEN-E 2026 youth entrepreneurship competition with LIVIA, a smart agriculture platform that combines satellite data, autonomous drones and artificial intelligence to help farmers improve irrigation, detect disease earlier and reduce pesticide use.

Alongside first place, the team received the FedEx Access Award, expanding its access to investors, entrepreneurs and industry experts across Europe.

Initially developed for vineyards, LIVIA analyses individual plants and turns complex data into practical recommendations. The team is now preparing its first functional product and pilot projects in Cyprus, with plans to expand into additional crops and international markets.

From An Idea To Smart Agriculture

LIVIA began with a simple question: how could satellite data create practical value in everyday life? After exploring applications ranging from meteorology to marine biology, the team identified agriculture as the sector with the greatest potential.

Recognising the limitations of satellite imagery alone, particularly in resolution and update frequency, the founders integrated autonomous drones into the platform to provide more detailed field data.

Designed as a modular system, LIVIA can continuously incorporate new data sources and capabilities. Its initial focus is irrigation management, early disease detection and plant health monitoring, with vineyards serving as the first use case because of their importance to Cyprus and the team’s own experience.

Turning Data Into Decisions

Satellite imagery provides continuous monitoring of crops, while autonomous drones capture high-resolution images whenever greater precision is needed.

Artificial intelligence then combines those datasets with information collected by growers, including IoT sensors and field observations, to generate tailored recommendations for irrigation, disease prevention and resource management.

By analysing each plant individually, the platform enables precision agriculture rather than field-wide recommendations.

Building A Hardware And Software Startup

Developing LIVIA has required balancing advanced software with specialised hardware, including drones, multispectral cameras and charging stations, all while operating with limited resources.

Although the startup participates in the Bank of Cyprus IDEA programme and has secured non-equity funding, integrating multiple data sources into a reliable AI system remains its biggest technical challenge.

The Role Of Junior Achievement

Participation in the JA StartUp Programme helped transform the original concept into a business proposition through mentoring, coaching and pitch preparation.

Support continued after LIVIA won the national competition, with the Junior Achievement Cyprus team helping the founders prepare for the European final in Latvia.

European Recognition

Winning GEN-E 2026 and the FedEx Access Award marked the team’s biggest milestone to date and created new opportunities to connect with investors, entrepreneurs and industry experts across Europe.

The founders are now focused on completing their minimum viable product, launching pilot projects in Cyprus and expanding the platform to new crops and international markets.

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