Tag Cyprus

The European Union has made the determination that the people of Cyprus are now responsible for the hundreds of billions of dollars in bad bets made by their government and bank financiers, and they are moving to confiscate money directly from the bank accounts of every citizen in the country.

Restrictions have been imposed to stop people emptying their accounts or moving their money out the country after the Cypriot government announced that up to ten per cent of deposits will be seized and used to bailout the island’s crisis-hit banking system.

The deal with other eurozone finance ministers is the first time that ordinary citizens’ deposits have been directly raided in this way.

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One furious expat said: ‘This is plain theft. I’d love to hear someone explain to me why it isn’t.’

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Under the deal, all bank deposits over €100,000 will be hit with a levy of 9.9 per cent. Those with smaller savings will pay 6.75 per cent.

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The move sparked panic and violent protests yesterday as crowds desperately tried to withdraw their money at cash machines.