BRUSSELS - Cyprus will not accept imposing losses on depositors of its banks as part of a programme to make the island's debt sustainable, Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly told reporters Monday.
"I would say that the bail-in of depositors is a grossly exaggerated possibility, unlikely to happen, we will not accept it under any circumstances and I don't think it creates any way forward," Shiarly said.
The minister, speaking on his way into a meeting of euro zone finance ministers that will discuss an emergency lending programme for Cyprus, responded to a newspaper story, which listed losses on Cypriot bank depositors as one of the options under consideration in setting up a bailout for Cyprus.