Cyprus scraps cash withdrawal limits

Nicosia - Cyprus has abolished restrictions on cash withdrawals imposed a year ago to avoid a run on the banks during bailout negotiations in 2013.

Moving towards lifting the eurozone's only capital controls, Finance Minister Haris Georgiades issued a decree abolishing the
€30 daily ceiling on cash withdrawals from banks.

With "the overall stabilisation and restoration of confidence in the banking system, it is feasible to ease restrictions further," said Georgiades.

The daily withdrawal limit was one of the key restrictions under the capital controls regime.

Bank accounts

Cypriots are still not allowed to cash cheques or take more than €3 000 with them when they travel abroad.

The decree also increased the current limits for the transfer of money within Cyprus, regardless of the purpose.

Under certain conditions, Cypriots are also allowed to open new bank accounts if they are not an existing customer of a credit institution and they open a fixed deposit account exceeding €5 000.

Cyprus has passed three reviews from the troika of international lenders and received bailout cash to restructure its near bankrupt banking system.

Rescue package

The IMF announced earlier that it was disbursing another tranche of a €1bn extended fund facility following the third review.

Nicosia says it could abolish all controls by the end of 2014 if sufficient progress is made in adopting its bailout programme and investor confidence is fully restored.

Cyprus last year agreed a €10bn rescue package with the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund to bail out its troubled economy and bloated banking system.

The deal included a restructuring of the banks, with the island's second-largest lender, Laiki, wound up and its good assets folded in to the largest lender, Bank of Cyprus (BoC).