Brussels, 05/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday afternoon at the Eurogroup, Cypriot Minister for Finance Michalis Sarris - who took up his post on Friday 1 March - reassured his partners of “the commitment (of the government) to conclude an agreement as quickly as possible”. In order to do this, the Cypriot government has agreed to yield to the demand of its partners and to submit to a fresh audit on its fight against money laundering. According to Sarris - and in accordance with the Cypriot request (see EUROPE 10798) - this assessment will not be conducted exclusively by a private firm. Sarris explained that Moneyval, the Council of Europe's committee of experts, would conduct this examination together with private experts, under the aegis of the Cypriot Central Bank. He also gave assurances that, if shortcomings are identified, his government will adopt corrective measures. It is planned that the experts will set to work from 12 March and will conclude before the end of the month. The European Commission had stated in February that this audit constituted the preliminary condition for granting financial assistance (see EUROPE 10786).
During his meeting with the 16 other eurozone ministers, Sarris made a point of clearing up any ambiguity that might exist around the potential involvement of depositors in the aid plan. “There's no way we can entertain the idea of any kind of haircut in any kind of deposit”, he said, adding that this would be “a self-inflicted wound”.
President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem again refused to explicitly reject this hypothesis, as he had done during the earlier press conference in February (see EUROPE 10784), simply answering that the elements of the bailout plan would only be decided once “the institutions come back with a solution which is cooperative in reaching a feasible and sustainable solution to Cyprus”. European Commissioner for the Euro Olli Rehn reiterated that his staff were working to find a solution that “will safeguard financial stability and take into account the need to ensure debt sustainability”. Over the weekend, Rehn had ruled out the possibility of involving investors, in an interview with the Spiegel.
The Eurogroup still hopes to reach an agreement during March, at an extraordinary meeting. Joerg Asmussen, a member of the ECB's executive board, is reported by Reuters as even announcing the return of the troika to Nicosia this Tuesday. (EL/transl.fl)