Cyprus preparing restrictions on money transfers

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Cyprus continues to be in the spotlight on Wednesday as the government in Nicosia is preparing for the introduction of capital controls on money transfers in order to prevent bank runs when the banks reopen on Thursday.

Cypriot finance minister Michalis Sarris said in a TV interview that the capital controls “will be within the realms of reason.” It is expected that they will include restrictions on ATM withdrawals and the use of credit and debit cards, as well as limited access to savings accounts and a ban on taking out considerable sums of money out of the country.

The Cypriot finance minister also said today that the capital controls might be lifted in a few weeks’ time, but as Yalman Onaran points out in an article for Bloomberg, such restrictions lasted much longer when imposed in other countries such as Iceland or Argentina.