More capital controls lifted

THE government has announced further relaxations to capital controls that will come into effect on Monday.

The decree issued by the Ministry of Finance allows current accounts opened when borrowing from a bank to be used to service the loan and normal activities, but not for depositing cash, while the credit balance of the account must not exceed the balance of the loan at any time.

The capital can be deposited in cash or transferred from other accounts subject to the restrictions in place at the time.

Cyprus introduced capital controls in March to avoid a bank-run following an EU decision to seize deposits and use them to recapitalise the island’s lenders.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.