CYPRUS: Petrol stations in fear of closing down as cash is limited

Petrol stations in Cyprus are in danger of closing since owners do not have cash to refill their reserves.
Chairman of the Petrol Owners Association, Stephanos Stephanou told CNA that the situation has worsened since yesterday with gas stations accepting only cash, while people are running out of cash.

He clarified that Cyprus has enough fuel reserves but the owners of stations are running out of money to obtain more fuel.
He urged the people to use cash while fueling up at the pump.

Stephanou said some stations take credit cards but from tomorrow, no station will be accepting credit cards.
The Eurogroup reached last week an agreement in Brussels which provided for a one-off levy on savings that stung small account holders to the tune of 6.75% in exchange for a €10 billion sovereign bailout deal, whereas deposits over 100.000 euro would be charged with a 9.9% levy. The agreement also included an increase in corporate tax from 10% to 12.5%. A relevant bill, with some modifications, was rejected by the Cyprus House of Representatives on Tuesday evening. Since Tuesday, commercial banks remained closed, while the Government decided yesterday to promote another solution as European Central Bank warned that it would terminate liquidity.

Yesterday the Eurogroup ministers discussed via a teleconference the developments in Cyprus and reaffirmed their readiness to discuss with the Cypriot authorities a draft new proposal to be presented “as rapidly as possible”.
Excluded from the international markets, Cyprus applied last June for financial assistance from the EU bailout mechanism, after its banks sought state support following massive write downs of the Greek bond holdings amounting to €2.5 billion or 25% of the island`s GDP, as result of the Greek sovereign debt haircut.