Cyprus partly eases capital controls

(NICOSIA) - Cyprus has partly eased capital controls imposed to prevent a run on deposits ahead of a 10-billion-euro EU-IMF bailout deal last month, which includes a complete liberalisation for foreign banks, the finance ministry said Thursday.

Under a new decree, individuals will now be allowed to make cashless payments within Cyprus up to 10,000 euros a month, while the figure for businesses will have a ceiling of 50,000 euros.

For transactions abroad, individuals will be allowed a monthly maximum of 5,000 euros.

At the same time, people travelling abroad will now be able to take with them up to 3,000 euros, or the equivalent in foreign currency.

However, a 300-euro limit on daily withdrawals from banks remains in effect.

A separate decree frees up the operations of foreign banks in Cyprus -- branches and subsidiaries that are more than 50 percent foreign owned -- involving non-resident clients. Previously, they were subject to the same restrictions as Cypriot lenders.

However, for the liberalised measures to apply, the banks must provide a list of those clients who would be affected.

Under the decree, all cashless payments and transfers of funds will be permitted by these banks on their own account or by the order of non-resident customers, as well as transactions between these banks and those customers.