Prometheus1

Well Athensman, I guess you are right.

The failed attempt to persuade Cyprus' ex President to testify to the current committee investigating Cyprus's Economic Crisis, just shows that Cyprus is not just having a financial crisis, but also a political one.

zygiman

News capital controls decree issued. No changes to the previous one.

zygiman

Minister of Finance Charis Georgiades has said that gradual easing of restrictions in bank transactions will continue until they can be fully lifted.

Prometheus1

Today Moody's said that Cyprus' economy is expected to shrink in double figures and not at 8.5% as expected during 2013, and they also think that the economy will shrink further in the next year (2014), before maybe starting to recover towards the end of 2015.

Foreign real investment (which can bring employment to people living in Cyprus), as well as speeding up the search for natural gas and oil, are really the only hopes Cyprus has for a quicker recovery.

Gordon Barlow

Pretty unrealistic hopes, I think. The Cyprus fiasco is all over the Internet, being held up as a horrible example of what might happen in other countries. (I did that myself, on my personal blog in March!) Surely it's too big a risk, putting ANY money into Cyprus - beautiful island though it is.

zygiman

You can make money in Cyprus. 3 businesses spring to mind straight away.

1. Insolvency Practitioner (Liquidator) - Plenty of business around for these liquidators.

2. Open a Crematorium - An on going saga, possibly nearing completion with all the red tape.

3. Recycling. Plenty of EU money floating around for financing, and loads of rubbish everywhere.

Gordon Barlow

Here's some breaking news: "6 Russians elected to the board of directors of Cyprus' largest bank"
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09...test+-+Text%29

Seems to me they'll be working to get their money back one way or another!

zygiman

The Russians elected to the Bank Of Cyprus board will start to look at all the loans. If they find evidence of fraud, they will prosecute. They will also go after the guarantors for loans. Things are looking up.

zygiman

There have not been any dramatic changes to date, just some easing of the capital controls still in place.
The most important announcement made just a while ago, was that the Cyprus government hopes to abolish all capital controls by January 2014.
There will however still be some controls on sending money abroad, details of which will be announced later.

Prometheus1

The 6 Russians were elected in the Bank of Cyprus Board of Directors because the new shareholders of the bank are mainly the ones who had haircut of their deposits.
There have been some Russians who literally lost billions of Euros from this.
You see, Cyprus was a tax heaven for them.

Prometheus1

The Cyprus Government has made two further important changes today to the restrictions imposed on bank transfers.
Although slow, the current government is making progress towards bringing the stability and security back to the Cypriot financial system.

zygiman

New decree come into effect on Monday 25 November 2013

The decree permits the opening of current accounts for servicing loans to be used also for the client`s regular activities but not for depositing purposes.