Cyprus requested banking assistance
On Monday, authorities of Cyprus announced, without giving details that have requested assistance from EU. The euro area representatives answered that soon will consider the request as it did earlier in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain.
Cyprus may require up to 10 billion euro in aid from the partners in the euro, which represents more than half of country’s GDP. The government in Nicosia had not yet decided the amount of assistance needed.
On Monday, Fitch downgraded Cyprus to the lowest level. The other two rating agencies – Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s – have done it already. Fitch estimates that the Cypriot banking sector needs a capital injection of EUR 4 billion.
