Cyprus may drop tax for small savers

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 19 Maret 2013 | 19.21

19 March 2013 Last updated at 07:30 ET

The Cyprus finance ministry suggests savers holding less than 20,000 euros (£17,000) would be exempt from a bank levy which has caused much alarm.

The plan was changed following outrage that ordinary savers would be forced to pay a levy of 6.75%.

The new plan would keep that levy on deposits over 20,000 euros, with those over 100,000 euros charged at 9.9%.

The controversial tax is a condition for Cyprus to get a 10bn-euro loan from the EU and IMF, to rescue its banks.

A crucial vote is looming in the Cypriot parliament on the bailout deal - expected to start at 18:00 (16:00 GMT). But there is still much uncertainty, and it is expected to be very close.

President Nicos Anastasiades has urged all parties to back the bailout, saying Cyprus will be bankrupt if the deal does not go ahead.

The Cyprus central bank chief, Panicos Demetriades, has warned that scrapping the tax on small savers would scupper the plan to raise 5.8bn euros in total from bank deposits. He also predicted account holders could suddenly withdraw 10% or more of the total in Cypriot banks if the levy was imposed.

At the same time, Mr Demetriades said he favoured imposing the levy only on accounts above 100,000.

Late on Monday eurozone finance ministers urged Cyprus to rethink the levy on bank deposits, which had been agreed on Saturday in Brussels.

Fearing a run on accounts, Cyprus has shut its banks until at least Thursday. The local stock exchange also remains closed.

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  • Depositors with 20,000 - 100,000 euros deposited must pay 6.75%
  • Those with more than 100,000 in their accounts must pay 9.9%
  • Depositors will be compensated with the equivalent amount in shares in their banks
  • The levy is a one-off measure
  • Eurozone wants Cyprus to get 5.8bn euros from deposits, in exchange for a 10bn-euro EU/IMF loan
  • Total of about 68bn euros on deposit in Cypriot banks, foreigners hold about 40% - most of them Russians

Cyprus' banks were badly exposed to Greece, which has itself been the recipient of two huge bailouts.

Russian anger

On Monday there were jitters on global markets over Cyprus, amid shock that for the first time in the eurozone crisis ordinary savers would suffer a "haircut" on their bank accounts - a slice of their savings.

Russian leaders reacted angrily on Monday to the Cypriot levy, with President Vladimir Putin calling it "unfair, unprofessional and dangerous".

Of the estimated 68bn euros in total held in Cypriot bank accounts about 40% belongs to foreigners - most of them thought to be Russians.

Russia says it may reconsider the terms of a 2.5bn-euro loan it made to Cyprus in 2011, which was separate from the proposed eurozone bailout.

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Nicosia says it now appears that a proxy battle of sorts is taking place over Cyprus: on the one side the EU is pushing for a lighter burden on lower savers and on the other, Russia is angry because its wealthy nationals would be taxed hard in Cyprus. Meanwhile, the tiny Cypriot economy's future hangs in the balance.

The latest proposal, removing the levy from small savers, may not satisfy the eurozone because it would leave a shortfall, our correspondent says.


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