Cyprus bank shutdown enters second week

Banks across Cyprus remain locked on Tuesday after financial authorities extended the country's bank closure, fearing worried depositors will rush to drain their accounts. The shut-down is hammering businesses, which have been without access to their funds for more than a week.

All but two of the country's largest lenders had been due to reopen Tuesday, after being shut since March 16, while politicians figured out how to raise the funds necessary for Cyprus to qualify for an international bailout.

Under the deal for a 10 billion euro ($12.94 billion) rescue clinched in Brussels early on Monday, Cyprus agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on large depositors in troubled banks.

After initially saying most financial institutions would reopen Tuesday, the country's Central Bank made a surprise reversal just before midnight, announcing all banks would remain closed until Thursday.

ATMs have been operating throughout the closure, but many have quickly run out of money. A daily withdrawal limit of 100 euros has been imposed on ATMs of the two largest lenders, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki. An increasing number of businesses have stopped accepting credit or check payments, insisting on cash only.

The bank closures have hammered businesses, who have found themselves unable to pay suppliers or fulfill orders. The retail market is sharply down too, shop owners say, with customers unwilling to spend on anything but the basics while they have limited access to cash.

Scores of angry students from a left-wing student union gathered outside Parliament, screaming "People, fight back, they're sucking your blood."

Under the new Cyprus bailout plan, the bulk of the funds will be raised by forcing losses on accounts of more than 100,000 euros in the country's second- largest lender, Laiki, with the remainder coming from tax increases and privatizations.

The bank will be dissolved immediately into a so-called bad bank containing its uninsured deposits and toxic assets, with the guaranteed deposits being transferred to the nation's biggest lender, Bank of Cyprus.

Deposits at Bank of Cyprus above 100,000 euros will be frozen until it becomes clear whether or to what extent they will also be forced to take losses. Those funds will eventually be converted into bank shares.

It's not yet clear how severe the losses will be to Laiki's large bank deposit holders, but the euro finance ministers noted the restructure expected to yield 4.2 billion euros overall. Analysts have estimated investors might lose up to 40 per cent of their money.