Cyprus: no figure yet on size of EU bailout sought

Menelaos Hadjicostis - Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus has yet to figure out how much European Union bailout money it will ask for to prop up its Greece-exposed banking sector and ailing economy, the eurozone country's finance minister said Tuesday.

Vassos Shiarly dismissed as "speculation" reports that Cyprus will require as much as €10 billion ($12.5 billion) because negotiations with the EU have yet to begin. "Neither ourselves nor the people we're talking to have ever raised the question of the amount. This is a matter which will be determined during the process that we follow," Shiarly said after a briefing of political leaders on the decision to seek help from the EU bailout fund.

Cyprus on Monday became the fifth country to request financial aid from the troubled European currency, just days before a June 30th deadline to recapitalize Cyprus Popular Bank, the island's second largest lender which suffered the heaviest losses as a result of its exposure to Greek debt.

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June 26, 2012