Monday, March 18, 2013

Cyprus MPs in bailout crisis session

Savers express anger on empty cash points in the capital city of Nicosia

Cyprus Parliament is due to hold an emergency session to discuss a large bailout, which has angered the public.

It is by no means certain that the deal, grudgingly approved by the President to give sufficient support in Parliament.

The 10-euro ($ 13bn; £ 8.6bn) bailout on which the EU and the IMF demand that all bank customers pay a one time charge.

This led to massive withdrawals and President Nicos Anastasiades later said he wanted the bailout conditions.

' People betrayed '

The Cypriot president Rally democratic party-who has 20 seats in the 56-member meeting-support to ratify the other factions of the bailout.

Unprecedented charge

  • Depositors with less than 100,000 euro paid up have to pay 6.75%
  • Those with more than 100,000 in their accounts have to pay 9.9%
  • Depositors will be offset with equivalent amount in shares in their banks
  • The charge is a one-time measure

A spokesman for one of her coalition partners, the Democratic Party, told BBC News they wanted guarantees that the deal would solve the problems of Cyprus before votes.

Opposition leader George Lillikas, an independent, said the President had "betrayed the people vote".

If the deal is defeated, State media say banks could be closed on Tuesday to prevent massive withdrawal.

Ahead of the parliamentary vote President Anastasiades said that he tried to amend the tax question.

' I fully shared the accident caused by a decision of the difficult and painful, "he said on TV on Sunday.

"That's why I keep fighting with the Euro group to amend their decisions in the next few hours to limit the impact on small depositors."

However, the president warned that Cyprus had to choose between its finances stabilize or the final collapse of the financial system and leaving the euro zone.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades speaks to German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the EU summit in Brussels, 15 March 2013President Anastasiades says he wants to negotiate the component of the charge of the bailout

He also said that it was the worst crisis since Turkey invaded in 1974.

' Good step '

Under the bailout would people in Cyprus with less than 100,000 euros in their bills to pay a one time tax of 6.75%. Those with amounts above that threshold would be 9.9% pay taxes.

Depositors will be offset with equivalent amount in shares in the banks, and Mr Anastasiades promised that those who deposits in Cypriot banks over the next two years for bonds linked to income from natural gas would get.

Cyprus announced the discovery of a field with between 5 and 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the Mediterranean Sea in 2011, but Turkey disputes its drilling rights.

It is believed that the leaders of the eurozone, particularly in Germany, on the charge due to the large amount of Russian capital held in Cypriot banks, amid fears of insisted money laundering.

The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, later argued in a newspaper interview that there should be an exemption from the charge for savers, for example, which had less than 25,000 euros in their accounts.

"The solution must be socially acceptable," Mr Schulz, that is part of Germany's opposition Social Democrats, told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the charge, saying "I think it's a good step that will certainly make it easier for us to accept the help for Cyprus."

It is now clear that the negotiators of the bailout dramatically underestimated the reaction in Cyprus in Brussels, says the BBC's Mark Lowen.

A small eurozone economy feels it is being blackmailed by the most powerful, and the growing resentment will do nothing to promote European solidarity, adds our correspondent.

If the levy goes ahead, this will affect many non-Cypriots with bank accounts, including UK Expats.

Depositors in the overseas arms of Cypriot banks will however not be affected. Bank of Cyprus UK and Laiki Bank UK both confirmed there would be no influence on their websites.

Chancellor George Osborne said that the United Kingdom would compensate only government employees and military personnel whose bank accounts were affected.

The charge itself will not take effect until Tuesday, after a public holiday, but action was taken to control electronic money transfers over the weekend.

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