21/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - Private sector to accept a write-down? German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung says that the situation in Cyprus is much worse than in Greece and the IMF will be recommending a partial default of the island with the private sector agreeing to a write-down as a precondition for IMF involvement in any financial bailout (the details of which are currently under negotiation). Cypriot sources says that the IMF has never said anything of the sort, but the country's bailout needs could well be somewhere in the region of 100% of its annual GDP, raising its public debt to unaffordable levels. Such high debt levels are disliked by the IMF, which says that countries' debts must be viable if they are to receive IMF aid. A private sector write-down may undermine foreign investor confidence in Cyprus. (EL/transl.fl)