Cyprus to stay in eurozone, says Pres. Nicos Anastasiades

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades says his country will stay in the eurozone following the announcement of a bailout plan for the Mediterranean nation.

“We have no intention of leaving the euro,” Anastasiades said at an annual conference of civil servants in the Cypriot capital Nicosia on Friday.

He made the remarks days after Nicosia and the EU reached a stringent bailout deal which included a tax of up to 40 percent on deposits of over 100,000 euros in Cyprus’s two biggest banks, a move which undermines the nation’s status as an offshore banking center.

Under the deal agreed in Brussels on March 25, Cyprus must raise 5.8 billion euros (USD 7.4 billion) to qualify for the full loan from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), and avoid bankruptcy.

Thousands of Cypriots have been demonstrating in the capital to denounce their government, the EU and the IMF for their austerity plans.

On Thursday, Banks in Cyprus reopened to customers after a nearly two-week lockdown, with tight restrictions on transactions remaining in place to stop draining the island’s coffers after the rescue package deal.

R.S