After implementing capital control measures to prevent economic collapse and cash flight for one year, the Ministry of Finance of Cyprus recently announced the lifting of the daily cash withdrawal limit from bank accounts, which was imposed based on the requirements of the international aid program.
The Ministry of Finance announced that the cash withdrawal limit of 300 euros per person per day will be lifted, and the restrictions on withdrawals from fixed-term deposits before maturity will also be removed. The announcement also stated that individuals will be allowed to open bank accounts at other credit institutions under certain conditions.
The Ministry of Finance of Cyprus stated that the reason for this decision is that a performance-related roadmap for stabilizing the banking system has made expected progress. A benchmark goal of this plan is to complete the merger of cooperative banks, which are a group of small lending institutions that received rescue funds as part of a 10 billion euro international aid program.
The announcement pointed out that individuals still have a limit of 50,000 euros per month for transfers without providing necessary documentation, while the limit for businesses is 200,000 euros. Restrictions on transferring funds abroad still exist, but Cypriot officials stated that they expect all restrictions to be completely lifted before the end of 2014.
