Cypriots face a suspension of credit card payments for overseas goods and a ban
on cashing cheques under draft capital controls designed to avert a run on the
banks. Here is the government document outlining the capital
controls in full. The only notable correction from the measures outlined at
15.51 is that the limit on cash that can be
taken out of the country per trip abroad is €1,000, not €3,000 as previously
reported: Cypriot finance minister Michalis
Sarris has said capital controls are needed because of the "lack of
substantial liquidity and significant risk of deposits outflow, with a possible
outcome the collapse of the credit institutions". This could cause "chain
effects that could lead to systemic instability of the financial system and have
destabilizing consequences on the economy as a whole".... Cyprus
central bank official Yiangos Dimitriou has confirmed
that the cashing of checks will be banned as part of the introduction of capital
controls. Dimitriou also told
state TV channel CYBC that bank withdrawals will be limited to €300 a
day, and that the effectiveness of the controls will be evaluated on a daily
basis.
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Correspondents say some fear a stampede as banks in Cyprus reopen between noon and 18:00 local time (10:00-16:00 GMT), nearly two weeks after they closed and progressively stricter limits were placed on withdrawals at cash machines.
Armed police are on guard and hundreds of staff from the private security firm G4S will be guarding bank branches and helping to transport money, said the AP news agency.
Severe new rules have been imposed on money movements to prevent a torrent of money leaving the island and credit institutions collapsing.
As well as the 300-euro daily withdrawal limit, Cypriots may not cash cheques. They can spend up to 5,000 euros on debit and credit cards.
Payments of over 200,000 euros require prior approval by a specially established committee - only the Cypriot government and its Central Bank are excluded.
There is a cap of 5,000 euros on transactions with other countries and travellers leaving the country will only be allowed to take 1,000 euros with them.
On Wednesday night, hundreds of protesters rallied outside the presidential palace, chanting: "I'll pay nothing; I owe nothing," the Reuters news agency reported.
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