Cyprus set to lift capital controls
Cyprus will be ready to lift capital controls within the next few months, according to the Cypriot finance minister.
In an interview with Reuters, finance minister Harris Georgides said:
The intention is to maintain pace and momentum not in abstract terms, but in very specific terms that will relate to their relaxation and eventually their full lifting. It is a progression of months not years.
The controls were introduced in March in order to prevent massive outflows in the wake of the the closure of the islands two largest banks. The statement comes only a few weeks after London-based consultancy Capital Economics said the lifting of capital controls before the economy was on a more sustainable path could result in an "opening of the floodgates". Capital controls within Cyprus are planned to be removed early next year.