Capital controls are now in place, in time for banks in the South opening today.
All banks will be open for 6 hours, starting from midday and the capital controls will apply. Controls are initially in place for seven days but will be applied many times.
- Cheque cashing is banned and bank withdrawals of any kind will be limited to 300 euros per day.
- Money cannot be sent overseas unless approved by the authorities.
- Debit and credit cards will have limits of 5,000 euros per month imposed.
- Cypriots travelling abroad cannot take out more than 3,000 euros per trip.
However cash transfers within the island are not restricted so there could well be an exodus to banks which are perceived as being safer.
The government hopes that it will be able to control public order issues using police and the world’s largest security firm, G4S’s security guards at the banks.
