by
James Chapman, Jill Reilly, and Allan Hall
Daily Mail

Cypriot president
Nikos Anastasiades ‘warned’ close friends of the financial crisis
about to engulf his country so they could move their money abroad,
it was claimed on Friday.

The respected
Cypriot newspaper Filelftheros made the allegation which
was picked up eagerly by German media.

Germans are
angry at the way their country has been linked to the Nazis and
Hitler by Cypriots angry at the defunct rescue deal which called
for a levy on all savings.

The Cyprus
newspaper did not say how much money was moved abroad but quoted
sources saying the president ‘knew about the possible closure of
the banks’ and tipped off close friends who were able to move vast
sums abroad.

Italian media
said the 4.5 billion euros left the island in the week before the
crisis.

Meanwhile sources
close to the ‘troika’ – the IMF, ECB and EU Commission responsible
for trying to create a viable rescue deal before Monday – said that
attempts to put together a ‘plan B’ rescue package had failed.

‘The coming
hours will determine the country’s future,’ a government spokesman
in Nicosia said.

Nearly a full
week after the European Union agreed to a €10 billion rescue
for the island country of one million people the Cypriot parliament
still hasn’t approved any new deal.

Nicosia hoped
to raise its €5.8 billion share of the bailout through a fund
based on a portfolio of government assets. Early Friday afternoon,
Greek TV station Skai-TV and the newspaper Ta Nea reported
the troika has rejected the proposal following a meeting with president
Anastasiades.

Troika officials
reportedly told the leader it was unlikely the country could raise
the funding shortfull with the plan.

They are reportedly
sticking to the demand that Cyprus impose a deposit tax, but only
on accounts holding sums above €100,000.

German government
patience is said to be ‘wearing very thin,’ with Chancellor Merkel
reportedly seething at seeing herself caricatured as Hitler on demonstrators’
placards in Cyprus.

At a special
meeting of her party group in parliament on today Mrs Merkel warned
that Cyprus’ partners may soon ‘lose ‘ and that the country should
‘not try to test the troika.’

News magazine
Der Spiegel said participants in the meeting quoted Merkel
as saying that Cyprus appears not to have recognized that the business
model it has used up until now has ended.

At the same
time, she added: ‘We want Cyprus to remain in the euro zone.’ She
also said that she hopes the situation in Cyprus doesn’t lead to
a ‘crash’.

Angry crowds
demonstrated in Cyprus today as leaders battled to prevent total
economic collapse in four days time.

Cyprus’s government
urged lawmakers this afternoon to ‘take the big decisions’ – MPs
are due to start voting on a series of bills that aim to raise the
funds the country needs to secure an international bailout before
their emergency funding runs out on Monday, triggering a possible
exit from the Euro.

‘The next few
hours will determine the future of the country,’ government spokesman
Christos Stylianides said in a televised statement before parliament
was due to debate.

Outraged protestors
gathered outside parliament – Despo Pambaka, 28, a customer services
manager at Laiki Bank told The Telegraph: ‘I never expected
this would happen. They are trying to take our lives, our money.
Even in 1974 in the war (with Turkey) they didn’t rob us of our
deposits. This is not the Europe that we went into. Germany showed
her real face. We will not accept it.’

This morning
it emerged that British savers with Laiki Bank could get the same
deal as their Cypriot counterparts.

Laiki Bank,
which has three UK branches is not covered by the FSA compensation
scheme, unlike Bank of Cyprus, meaning their customers could be
hit by the bank restructures.

Meanwhile Greek
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras announced that a Greek banking
group had begun acquiring the Greek units of Cypriot banks – this
would safeguard all the deposits of Greek citizens in Cypriot banks.

Last night
an emergency Bill submitted to parliament gave the finance minister
or central bank governor the right to impose capital controls on
banks – a ban on moving cash outside the country, which would
be a serious blow to the single market.

The European
Central Bank warned it may halt funding on Monday if Cyprus fails
to come up with a viable rescue plan.

Read
the rest of the article

March
23, 2013

Copyright
© 2013 Daily
Mail