Cyprus achieved "very good progress" according to Eurozone official

Cyprus has achieved ‘very good progress’ as regards the implementation of the economic assistance program agreed with its international lenders, a Eurozone official said Tuesday in Brussels.

The official noted that Troika’s assessment on Cyprus’ program shows that ‘very good progress’ has been achieved in the fiscal sector, while significant progress was recorded in Nicosia’s efforts to restructure the country’s financial sector.

The Eurozone official who wished to remain under anonymity, said that although progress has been achieved in the financial sector, challenges remain especially for the Bank of Cyprus and the cooperative banks.

He clarified that during Eurogroup’s meeting on Thursday, members will be informed by the Troika on the second evaluation of Cyprus’ economic assistance program, but no decisions are expected to be made.

The Republic of Cyprus, a full EU member state since May 2004, requested and received a €10 billion financial assistance package from the Troika (EC, ECB, IMF) which featured a sizeable reduction of the island`s banking sector, as well as bail-in of uninsured deposits.

Under the aid package agreed in March, Cyprus closed one bank, the Laiki Bank, (its depositors lost all savings exceeding 100,000 euro) whereas deposits over 100,000 euro held at the island’s biggest lender, Bank of Cyprus, lost 47.5% of their value, after being converted into bank shares.