Cyprus reopens banks
- 11 years ago
(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Cypriot banks reopened on Thursday (March 28) with tight controls imposed on transactions to prevent a run on deposits after the government was forced to accept a stringent EU rescue package to prevent the country from going bankrupt.
Customers queued up in Nicosia to access their cash when the banks opened their doors at midday (10am GMT).
Banks were shut almost two weeks ago as the government negotiated a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout package, the first in Europe's single currency zone to impose losses on bank depositors.
A Finance Ministry decree imposes strict controls limiting cash withdrawals to no more than 300 euros per day and banning the cashing of cheques.
The island's central bank will review all commercial transactions over 5,000 euros and scrutinize transactions over 200,000 euros on an individual basis. People leaving Cyprus can take only 1,000 euros with them.
Cypriot banks reopened on Thursday (March 28) with tight controls imposed on transactions to prevent a run on deposits after the government was forced to accept a stringent EU rescue package to prevent the country from going bankrupt.
Customers queued up in Nicosia to access their cash when the banks opened their doors at midday (10am GMT).
Banks were shut almost two weeks ago as the government negotiated a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout package, the first in Europe's single currency zone to impose losses on bank depositors.
A Finance Ministry decree imposes strict controls limiting cash withdrawals to no more than 300 euros per day and banning the cashing of cheques.
The island's central bank will review all commercial transactions over 5,000 euros and scrutinize transactions over 200,000 euros on an individual basis. People leaving Cyprus can take only 1,000 euros with them.