YEREVAN, March 20. /ARKA/. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he regrets the rejection of an international bailout by the parliament of Cyprus, but said the euro zone’s offer to provide aid to the island nation still stands.
The Wall Street Journal reported.”We regret that the Cypriot Parliament today decided against the program that was worked out between the Euro Group and the Cypriot government,” Mr. Schaeuble said in a statement Tuesday evening. “The offer of the Euro Group of–a program which envisages financial aid, structural reforms, an improvement in state revenue, combating money laundering and other things–still stands.”
In a separate interview on German television, Mr. Schaeuble said Cyprus needs to do its share as part of the deal with the Eurogroup to a “sound foundation” for further negotiations over international aid for Cyprus. He said Cyprus’s bloated banking system, which is larger than its economy, is “not sustainable” and urged the Cypriots to reform their economic model.—0-
