Mar 23, 2013
Lawmakers in Cyprus approved three key bills on Friday that aim to raise enough money to qualify the country for a broader bailout package and help it avoid financial ruin in mere days.
A total of nine bills were approved, including a key one on restructuring the country's ailing banks, which lost billions on bad Greek debt; one on restricting financial transactions in times of crisis; and one that sets up a solidarity fund' into which investments and contributions will flow.
More bills to meet the total target of 5.8 billion euros Cyprus needs to secure an international bailout will be brought for a vote over the weekend.
Cyprus' president, Nicos Anastasiades, has travelled to Brussels to present a revised bailout package to the country's prospective EU and IMF creditors.
The Telegraph's Richard Spencer who has spent the past few days in Cyprus' capital Nicosia, says that "Cyprus have made a start. They have made a big sacrifice with the approved bills and EU leaders need to recognise that."
Cyprus has been told to raise 5.8 billion euros to qualify for 10 billion euros in rescue loans from the eurozone and the IMF.
The country faces a pressing Monday deadline, when the European Central Bank has said it will stop providing emergency funding to the country's banks if a new plan is not in place.
Without the ECB's support, Cypriot banks would collapse on Tuesday, pushing the country toward bankruptcy and a potential exit from the 17-country eurozone.