YEREVAN, March 26. /ARKA/. Cyprus’s finance minister has confirmed that Cypriot depositors with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts “will not be hit”.
But people with more than this could see about 40% of their deposits converted into bank shares, Michalis Sarris told the BBC.
“The exact percentage is not… yet decided but it is going to be significant,” BBC quoted him.
The final figure will depend on how the government decides to protect pensions.
He confirmed that all Cypriot banks will remain closed until Thursday and that capital controls will be placed on the size and the amount of money people will be allowed to withdraw once they have reopened.
These restrictions would “probably be a bit stricter” on the country’s two largest banks, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki, and would remain in place until the banking system “stabilises”, he said.
The exact details of this “two tier system” would be hammered out with the banks later on Tuesday, he said.—0-
