Central Bank Governor Josef Bonnici has dismissed as “misleading” any comparison between Malta’s banking system and that of Cyprus.

He said the size of the Maltese banking sector relative to GDP was strongly influenced by institutions that virtually had no economic or financial links with the economy.

He insisted that assets of the all-important banks amounted to “just below 300 per cent” of GDP, which was within normal limits.

Unlike Malta’s core banks, the large Cypriot banks were also very active internationally with a high dependence on foreign sources of funds and high exposure to losses on foreign assets.

“The problems facing Cypriot banks included losses made on their holdings of Greek bonds, whereas Maltese domestic banks have limited exposure to securities issued by the programme countries,” he said.    

Full story in The Times.