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Cyprus surprise - Cypriot depositors to take a 'haircut'
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Sorry Shushannah, I for one don't have a clue and its a little premature to be giving any advice. Events are moving quickly and nothing is concrete, yet. Keep informed, e.g. reading the local Cypriot press:Shushannah wrote: »My mother is retired in Cyprus. Any ideas what to advise her as she is living off her savings there?
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/bailout/savers-forced-bear-costs-cyprus-bailout/20130316
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/baolout/incredulity-decision-gives-way-fury/20130316
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/anastasiades/new-decision-painful-only-one-anastasiades/20130316
The Greek press also have a good amount of information, slanted for the Greek reader of course but still more detailed than current British reporting, e.g.:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_16/03/2013_488205
You could contact your local MP if your mother is still a citizen here (probably the case). Since Britain is a key member of the IMF that has backed this deal you could contact HM Treasury to register your displeasure. Your mother could contact the British high commission in Cyprus. These may be fruitless steps but it could put a little pressure on the powers that be, good luck.The news of the agreement was greeted with shock in Cyprus as recently-elected President Nikos Anastasiades and his economic advisers had said they were against the idea of a depositor tax.
Anastasiades is due to convene his cabinet and meet with rival political leaders on Saturday evening and address the nation on Sunday.
Presidential candidate Giorgos Lillikas called for a referendum to be held on whether Cypriots were willing to accept the tax on deposits. Failing that, he said that snap presidential elections should be called.
Lillikas also said he was in talks with economists about creating a plan for Cyprus to leave the euro and return to the Cypriot pound.
The general secretary of Cyprus’s Communist Party (AKEL), Andros Kyprianou, said his party is considering advising Anastasiades to call a referendum or to pull Cyprus out of the eurozone.
From Saturday morning, Cypriots queued at banks to withdraw money and some ATMs ran out of cash to dispense to customers."The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat, 1848.0 -
yangptangkipperbang wrote: »You REALLY believe that ????
It's the facts.Once the EU has its claws into you it's like being given a choice of being shot or being hung - SOME CHOICE.........!
Oh dear.... One of the frothers.Good news for the UK though - more votes for UKIP........
UKIP is a sad and deluded party full of "loonies, fruitcakes and closet racists" (David Cameron, 2012).
By all means split the tories all you like. You're just ensuring a Labour win.
And zero chance of a referendum. (which you'd lose anyway, but that's another story)“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
The very latest:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_16/03/2013_488208
I won't litter this thread with every update but thought this was important. Both http://www.ekathimerini.com and http://www.cyprus-mail.com/ have good English language coverage.Nicosia sweats over Parliament stance on measures
The Cypriot government is now sweating over a possible rejection by the island’s parliament of the shocking set of measures imposed on Nicosia for the eurozone to bail its economy out of a likely default, announced in the early hours of Saturday.
The Cypriot government is preparing the bill to be tabled in Parliament probably on Sunday in an emergency session, as everything will have to be voted by Monday night for Cypriot banks to open on Tuesday.
President Nicos Anastasiades is to meet with party leaders at 8.30 p.m. on Saturday evening, before an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday afternoon, in his effort to rally support for the measures following the huge reaction they have generated in Cyprus. They entail the immediate haircut of all bank accounts, the increase in tax on interest and on corporate incomes and a number of tough privatization projects.
The question is whether the Cypriot House of Representatives will approve of the bill given that the two main parties that supported Anastasiades in the presidential election, the Democratic Rally (DISY) and the Democratic Party (DIKO) do not have an overall majority. They account for 28 out of the plenary’s 56 members, but among the DIKO deputies is also Nicolas Papadopoulos, a dissident who recently resigned from vice-president of the party in disagreement with its support of Anastasiades.
The bill might also get the support of some deputies from minor European Party (EVROKO), while the presidential adviser Giorgos Vassiliou, a former president himself who is in touch with many people in the Left, has been enlisted to try and convince some deputies to vote in favor of the bill. However AKEL, the main party of the Left, has signaled its opposition to the measures.
At 5 p.m. central bank governor Panikos Demetriades started a meeting with the island’s top bankers.
Sources from Germany confirmed that had the bailout package not included a Cypriot bank account haircut it would never make it through the German parliament"The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat, 1848.0 -
everything will have to be voted by Monday night for Cypriot banks to open on Tuesday.
As mentioned earlier, they can always reject the bailout.
Although if they do, the consequences will likely be far worse for ordinary people.
Perhaps the banks wouldn't open at all, as a result of insolvency. That haircut would be far bigger than this one.
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
Cyprus was a British colony until 1960, we've still got two military bases on the island, so it makes sense that British citizens are the largest overseas savers - barring the recent Russian money.
But given brits who use british banks aren't affected and only people who chose to move money to Cyprus banks (presumably to avoid UK taxes and/or higher savings rates) so why should we care.
UK savers are paying a hefty amount of tax to stand behind the banks taxed and regulated by them (and others :grumble), if citizens chose to opt out that system then tough.
frankly a 10% instant deduction isn't that different to interest rates below inflation over a longer period of time, just harder to avoid.
Interestingly this may prompt a move for hoarding of money to shares and other more "productive" uses for it.0 -
But given brits who use british banks aren't affected and only people who chose to move money to Cyprus banks (presumably to avoid UK taxes and/or higher savings rates) so why should we care.
.
Did you completely miss the part where it was noted it's mostly UK pensioners and expats.
Not tax evaders.
Unlikely to have money there to avoid tax, rather simply because it's where they live.“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
What are they going to do if these russian oligarchs decide to withdraw all their money? I mean whats to stop them doing the same thing again?
What if the russian oligarchs decide to stop playing ball, presumably their mega billions also run many big businesses either in or supplying the EU.
Is it possible they could simply add a sales duty on of their own or restrict things like gas and oil supplies ?"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
Mrs Bones has a very good point re this might encourage people to withdraw their money from banks - thus creating even bigger problems.
The other thing that strikes me about this theft (whoops - sorry must remember that it's being called a "levy" - yeh right...:cool:) is that it seems to be being billed as a one-off theft/levy. Who is to say that they mightn't think "That was easier than we thought Spiros - let's go back and steal some more with another 'one-off levy'...".
After all, wasn't British income tax supposed to be a temporary thing to fund one of the wars (?back in the 17th?/18th? century). Some "temporary" considering that it's still with us hundreds of years later.....0 -
HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »
Perhaps the banks wouldn't open at all, as a result of insolvency. That haircut would be far bigger than this one.
Thank you for your informative posts on this thread.
Presumably insolvency would test out the EU cash compensation arrangements.:eek:"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
The very latest:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_16/03/2013_488208
I won't litter this thread with every update but thought this was important. Both http://www.ekathimerini.com and http://www.cyprus-mail.com/ have good English language coverage.
From the posted article I find this somewhat "threatening" if true.
Sources from Germany confirmed that had the bailout package not included a Cypriot bank account haircut it would never make it through the German parliament
All seems a bit made up as we go.
Interesting somebody posted on another thread "is the IMF capable of bailing everyone out" this week.
"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0
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