Political leaders in Cyprus are holding emergency talks following parliament's rejection of a European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout package.
President Nicos Anastasiades, barely a month in the job, gathered party leaders and the governor of the central bank at his office.
He is also due to hold a cabinet meeting and talks with officials from the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank.
Cyprus has just 24 hours to find a solution to its funding gap before its banks are due to reopen.
A senior government official said it may allow banks to open tomorrow but with capital restrictions.
Elsewhere, Finance Minister Michael Sarris, who is in Moscow to seek Russian financial assistance, said no decision had been reached.
"We had a very honest discussion, we've underscored how difficult the situation is," Mr Sarris said as he left talks with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
"We'll now continue our discussion to find the solution by which we hope we will be getting some support.
"There were no offers, nothing concrete ... We're happy with a good beginning."
Russian authorities have denied rumours that it might offer more money, possibly in return for a future stake in Cyprus's large, but as yet, undeveloped offshore gas reserves.
Cyprus has asked Russia for a five-year extension of an existing loan of €2.5bn that matures in 2016, as well as a reduction in the 4.5% rate of interest.
When asked about the loan extension, Mr Sarris said that talks were ongoing about "things beyond that".
Cypriot banks may not reopen this week
Meanwhile, Austria's Finance Minister has said the European Central Bank will not provide Cypriot banks with liquidity indefinitely unless a bailout is agreed.
Maria Fekter said banks in Cyprus may not be able to reopen this week.
Its banks, currently closed, are dependent on emergency funding from the ECB, which has said it will continue to provide liquidity but only under existing rules which say that they must be solvent.
If Cyprus does not come up with a new plan, Ms Fekter said: "Then the banks won't open on Friday because the ECB will not provide any more liquidity.
"That is a more horrible scenario than what is on the table now.
"We will certainly help the Cypriots but only under conditions that make sense. Certainly neither the ESM nor the ECB can allow a bottomless pit."
As things stand, the banks are due to open tomorrow, although there is speculation that may be delayed to allow more work on finding a solution that keeps the eurozone member and its banks afloat.
Ms Fekter reiterated that European officials would not accept any measures that increased Cyprus's debt further.
She said she would have liked to see a debt haircut imposed on bondholders of major Cypriot banks rather than the controversial levy on deposits.
Cypriots outraged over bailout terms
Outraged Cypriots had emptied cash machines at the weekend after news broke that they would be taxed on their savings to raise €5.8bn in exchange for the bailout.
The ECB has threatened to end emergency lending assistance for teetering Cypriot banks, crippled by their exposure to the financial crisis in neighbouring Greece.
However, eurozone leaders said the bailout offer still stood, provided the conditions were met.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country wants a solution for Cyprus.
But she insisted there must be a plan to repair the country's bloated banking sector.
Elsewhere, Fianna Fáil leader Michael Martin has criticised Eurogroup Finance Ministers for the bailout deal.
He said the violation of the principle that assured deposits are safe should never have happened.
Mr Martin said the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) should be used to resolve the Cypriot debt crisis.
He called on Minister for Finance Michael Noonan to convene an emergency meeting of the Eurogroup to deal with the situation.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Emergency talks over Cyprus bailout crisis
Dengan url
http://newsdeadlineup.blogspot.com/2013/03/emergency-talks-over-cyprus-bailout.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Emergency talks over Cyprus bailout crisis
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Emergency talks over Cyprus bailout crisis
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar