NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cypriot government officials sought Tuesday to alleviate the pain on small savers from a plan to raid bank deposits that has caused outrage in the country and sent jitters through European financial markets.
If the vote fails to get through Parliament, Cyprus faces potential bankruptcy and a possible from the euro, which could reignite concerns in financial markets over the future of the single currency.
Proponents of the Cypriot account levy argue that this way gets foreigners who have taken advantage of Cyprus's low-tax regime to share the cost of the bailout of the country's banks, which have been hit hard by their over-exposure to bad Greek debt.
Opponents point out that a blanket charge on people's bank accounts will hurt ordinary Cypriots more, and could shake the confidence of all in the country's banking sector.
In a sign of the scale of disagreement over the deposit charge, the country's central bank governor, Panicos Demetriades, recommended that no accounts below €100,000 be touched.
[...] Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation Monday night that "the possibility of reducing the requirements from self-raised funds is being explored," government spokesman Christos Stylianides said Tuesday.
If the vote fails to get through Parliament, Cyprus faces potential bankruptcy and a possible from the euro, which could reignite concerns in financial markets over the future of the single currency.
Proponents of the Cypriot account levy argue that this way gets foreigners who have taken advantage of Cyprus's low-tax regime to share the cost of the bailout of the country's banks, which have been hit hard by their over-exposure to bad Greek debt.
Opponents point out that a blanket charge on people's bank accounts will hurt ordinary Cypriots more, and could shake the confidence of all in the country's banking sector.
In a sign of the scale of disagreement over the deposit charge, the country's central bank governor, Panicos Demetriades, recommended that no accounts below €100,000 be touched.
[...] Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades told German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation Monday night that "the possibility of reducing the requirements from self-raised funds is being explored," government spokesman Christos Stylianides said Tuesday.
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