Brussels, 04/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 13 December, eurozone finance ministers will be examining the interim outcome of the capital requirement assessment for the Cypriot banking industry and how this will impact on financing of the upcoming Cypriot aid programme, explained the head of Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, on Monday. The assessment is being done by the PIMCO company and is expected to be finalised around 8 December. Capital needs to bail out the banks alone are expected to be in the region of €10 billion, more than half of Cypriot GDP.
French economy minister Pierre Moscovici said the 13 December meeting would not be decisive for Cyprus, but rather a staging point and exchange of views on the Cypriot economy. He called for Russia to join the negotiating table (it is currently in talks with Nicosia over a bilateral loan).
Juncker said a decision would be taken, if not on 13 December, then on 21 January 2013 at the latest. Cyprus wants agreement on its aid programme to be reached before the end of the year.
EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said a number of issues were pending between the Cypriot government and the troika of lenders (the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF). The eurozone is urging Cyprus to continue working with its future lenders.
The draft Cypriot agreement put online by the Financial Times on Monday includes austerity measures to the tune of €522 million in 2013 and €307 million in 2014. A difficult pill to swallow for the Cypriots and their president, Demetris Christofias. Cyprus Mail reports Christofias as saying on Monday that austerity policies never seem to reverse the trend and the crisis only gets worse while political decisions taken at EU level never seem to have the desired results. (EL/transl.fl)