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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Cyprus bailout: Parliament postpones debate | Cyprus bailout: Parliament postpones debate |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Cyprus's parliament has postponed an emergency session on a controversial bailout deal for the country's banks. | Cyprus's parliament has postponed an emergency session on a controversial bailout deal for the country's banks. |
| The debate and a presidential address were to happen on Sunday but will now take place on Monday, state media said. | |
| The deal reached with the EU and IMF on Friday has provoked public anger because it would impose a levy on bank deposits of up to 10%. | The deal reached with the EU and IMF on Friday has provoked public anger because it would impose a levy on bank deposits of up to 10%. |
| The president has said that refusing the bailout would lead to the collapse of the country's banks. | |
| Worried investors have been queuing outside banks to withdraw their savings from cash machines. | Worried investors have been queuing outside banks to withdraw their savings from cash machines. |
| The 10bn-euro ($13bn; £9bn) deal agreed by the EU and IMF marks a radical departure from previous international aid packages. | The 10bn-euro ($13bn; £9bn) deal agreed by the EU and IMF marks a radical departure from previous international aid packages. |
| Under its terms, people in Cyprus with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts would have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%. | |
| Those with sums over that threshold would pay 9.9% in tax. | |
| Depositors will be compensated with the equivalent amount in shares in their banks. | Depositors will be compensated with the equivalent amount in shares in their banks. |
| 'Betrayal' | |
| On Saturday President Nicos Anastasiades admitted the deal was "painful" but said it was necessary to avoid a "disorderly bankruptcy". | On Saturday President Nicos Anastasiades admitted the deal was "painful" but said it was necessary to avoid a "disorderly bankruptcy". |
| But opposition leaders and savers - including many non-Cypriots - have expressed shock and anger at the proposal. | But opposition leaders and savers - including many non-Cypriots - have expressed shock and anger at the proposal. |
| The deal requires the approval of parliament. | The deal requires the approval of parliament. |
| President Anastasiades's Democratic Rally party - which has 20 seats in the 56-member assembly - needs support from other factions to ratify the bailout. | President Anastasiades's Democratic Rally party - which has 20 seats in the 56-member assembly - needs support from other factions to ratify the bailout. |
| The president has been meeting with members of the parliament's finance committee, his office said. | |
| On Saturday the head of the committee, Nicholas Papadopoulos, expressed shock at the deal, saying it was "much worse than expected". | |
| Opposition leader George Lillikas said the president - who was elected last month - had "betrayed the people's vote". | |
| The deal has caused anger within the European Parliament. | |
| Sharon Bowles, who chairs its Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, said: "This grabbing of ordinary depositors's money is billed as a tax so as to try and circumvent the EU's deposit guarantee laws. It robs smaller investors of the protection they were promised. " | |
| Russian money targeted | |
| If it goes ahead, the levy will affect many non-Cypriots with bank accounts, including UK expatriates. | |
| Chancellor George Osborne said the UK would compensate any government employees and military personnel whose bank accounts were affected. | |
| According to Reuters news agency, almost half of the depositors in Cyprus are believed to be non-resident Russians. | |
| The EU decision to impose a levy on bank deposits may have been motivated by a belief that a lot of the money in Cypriot banks belongs to Russian money-launderers, BBC business editor Robert Peston says. | |
| The levy itself would not take effect until Tuesday, following a public holiday, but action is being taken to control electronic money transfers over the weekend. | |
| Co-operative banks, the only ones which were open in Cyprus on Saturday, closed after people started queuing to withdraw their money. |