A total of 6.000 people who transferred money out of Cyprus in the beginning of March before bank restrictions were imposed by the authorities following a bailout deal, are included in the list, which the Central Bank gave to the House Committee on Institutions, Merit and the Commissioner for Administration.
The list refers to bank transfers, which took place March 1-15, 2013.
Chairman of the House Committee Demetris Syllouris told the press that the list was today revealed before the MPs, adding that the Parliamentarians have expressed their disappointment and frustration because they were not given all the data they demanded from the Central Bank. He said that the data provided refer only to the period between 1-15 March.
According to Syllouris, the MPs demanded data for a year.
Syllouris said that in a letter sent to him by CB Deputy Governor Spyros Stavrinakis-whose appointment was withdrawn Tuesday by the Government- it is stated that only a list of individuals and companies who transferred money abroad between March 1-14 is attached.
In the letter, according to Syllouris, Stavrinakis said that the Committee’s request would lead to an enormous amount of information, which would probably not assist the Committee in its probe.
Syllouris said that the new developments would be discussed on Wednesday during a meeting of the Parliamentary parties’ leaders. He also noted that the Governor and Deputy Governor would be invited to the Committee’s next meeting on Thursday to explain why the data requested were not submitted.
Cyprus’ Banks were shut down for almost two weeks following the first Eurogroup decision on Cyprus on March 15th in order to prevent a transfer of deposits abroad. Banks reopened on March 28 imposing tight restrictions.
Excluded from international markets, Cyprus applied in June 2012 for financial assistance, after its two largest banks sought state aid, following massive write-downs of their Greek bond holdings amounting to €4.5 billion or 25% of the island’s GDP, as a result of the Greek sovereign debt haircut. Eurogroup reached an agreement with Cypriot authorities on March 25th on the key elements necessary for a future macroeconomic adjustment programme of 10 billion euros.
