Cyprus and Troika agree to 20% tax on deposits over 100,000 euros at Bank of Cyprus
Here we go ... Now it is just a matter of time when they realize that it is not enough and that the small ones should pay their debts too. The first step for legal robbing has ben made
Cyprus weighs big bank levy; bailout goes down to wire
Cyprus conceded on Saturday to a one-off levy on deposits over 100,000 euros in a dramatic U-turn as it raced to satisfy European partners and seal an 11th-hour bailout deal to avert financial collapse.
The island's finance minister, Michael Sarris, reported "significant progress" in talks with international lenders, with the clock running down to and end-Monday deadline for Cyprus to clinch a bailout deal with the EU or lose emergency funding for its stricken banks and risk tumbling out of the euro zone.
His counterparts in Europe's 17-nation currency union scheduled talks in Brussels for Sunday evening to see if the numbers add up, and the EU's Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said progress was being made towards a solution.
As Cypriot party leaders met, a senior Cypriot official told Reuters that Nicosia had agreed with EU/IMF lenders on a 20 percent levy over and above 100,000 euros at No. 1 lender Bank of Cyprus, and four percent on deposits over the same level at others.
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Cyprus and the Troika have agreed to a 20 per cent tax on deposits over 100,000 euros at the Bank of Cyprus and 4 per cent on deposits held at other banks.
A senior Cypriot official told Reuters that a plan to tap nationalized pension funds would not be a part of a plan to raise billions of euros in return for a bailout from the European Union. Cyprus said earlier on Saturday that it was looking at seizing a quarter of the value of big deposits at its largest bank in order to raise such funds.
Meanwhile, European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement that there are "no longer any optimal solution available for Cyprus - only hard choices."
Cyprus is scrambling to come up with €5.8 billion, a prerequisite for a further €10 billion in bailout funds. Lawmakers' rejection of a previous proposal to tax all bank deposits prompted the European Central Bank to threaten to cut off emergency funding to Cypriot banks unless a deal was reached by March 25. Banks have been shut all week, and are due to reopen on March 26.
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