NICOSIA, Mar 29 (Xinhua): Cyprus announced further relaxation of bank transaction restrictions on Friday, setting the ground for fully abolishing controls at the end of May.
The restrictions were imposed a year ago to prevent a massive flight of capital after the Cypriot banks were resolved as part of a 10-billion-euro (US$13.8 billion) bailout.
A decree issued by the Finance Ministry scrapped a 300-euro limit per person per day on bank withdrawals along with a 500-euro limit per legal person per day.
Restrictions on breaking fixed interest time deposits before reaching maturity were also lifted,
The decree also moved upwards a 20,000-euro limit on monthly transfers per person to 50,000. The limit for companies was raised from 100,000 euros to 200,000.
The decree allowed individuals to open new bank accounts provided they made a cash deposit of 5,000 euros or over.
The finance ministry decree said the relaxation of restrictions was introduced after targets for stabilising the banking sector had been met.
Finance Minister Haris Georgiades has said internal restrictions will be fully lifted at the end of May.
Restrictions on international capital transfers will remain in force until the end of the year.
Under the terms of the bailout offered by the Euro group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to avoid an economic meltdown, Cyprus had to close down one of its banks and recapitalise its largest lender by seizing 47.5 per cent of deposits over 100,000 euros.
The IMF board Friday approved the release of a 83.3-million-euro loan tranche, bringing its total disbursement to 333.2 million euros out of a total of 1 billion.
The European Stability Mechanism has received the go-ahead from the Euro group to release a tranche of 150 million euros to Cyprus at the beginning of April.
Cyprus further relaxes bank transaction controls
FE Team | Published: March 30, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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