Cypriot parliament postpones debate on deposit levy

 　　NICOSIA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Cypriot parliament has postponed¹ a debate on legislation imposing² a levy³ on bank deposits until after a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels on Sunday, parliament sources said on Saturday.

　　The vote on the bill had been scheduled for Saturday, ahead of a finance ministers meeting to consider a revised bailout for Cyprus, following endorsement⁴ of nine bailout related bills at a day-long session of parliament on Friday.

　　The sources could not say if and when a deposits levy bill will be debated.

　　Troika technocrats⁵ representing the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary⁶ Fund were at the ministry⁷ of finance early on Saturday discussing final details of the bailout.

　　Cyprus president Nicos Anastasiades was scheduled to fly to Brussels later on Saturday accompanied by leaders of parliamentary parties to plead his position on the bailout but plans may change depending on the outcome of discussions at the ministry of finance.

　　However his travel to Brussels has been throwing into uncertainty⁸ following the postponement⁹ of Saturday's session of parliament.

　　Parliamentarians approved on Friday night bills imposing capital controls to prevent massive outflow of capital when the banks reopen on Tuesday, following an eight-day bank holiday decreed by the ministry of finance. They also passed a bill empowering the Central Bank to downsize stricken Cyprus Popular Bank and gave the go ahead for setting up a mechanism¹⁰ to collect revenues and issue bonds.

　　The mechanism was renamed into Investment Solidarity¹¹ and Development Fund to reflect its additional purpose of receiving gains from future development of natural gas and channel funds into development projects, given the fact that the downsized banking¹² sector¹³ will lack enough money for loans to businesses.

　　The troika is reported to have given its approval for the establishment of the Fund following its initial rejection¹⁴ by German Chancellor¹⁵ Angela Merkel.

　　Cyprus Popular Bank will be split into a "good" bank and a "bad" bank. The good one will take over insured deposits of up to 100,000, belonging to about 361,000 savers and also loans still being serviced.

　　The deposits of another 10,000 savers above the 100,000 mark will go into the bad bank, along with non-serviced loans and will be turned into frozen assets until liquidation¹⁶ is over after several years. These depositors may get back anything between 30 to 60 percent of their money.

　　A bill for imposing a levy on bank deposits was not included in the emergency legislation passed by parliament as financial authorities were still considering what sort of tax to impose and on which deposits.

　　The state broadcaster said that a levy of between 22 and 25 percent was being considered for deposits of over 100,000 euros in the Bank of Cyprus only, leaving untouched deposits in about 26 foreign banks operating on the island.

　　Depositors will be compensated¹⁷ with bank shares.

　　The state broadcaster also said president Anastasiades would get in touch with the International Monetary Fund to present the levy proposal. It has not been explained whether postponement of the vote on the levy was in any way connected with his consultations¹⁸.

　　The levy is designed to raise about 2.8 billion euros to compliment assets totaling 3 billion euros out of selling the Greek units of Cypriot banks and the planned investment fund.

　　The troika had set a condition for Cyprus to raise itself 5.8 billion euros before approving a 10-billion-euro bailout so as to keep the total sovereign debt down to a mark which would make it manageable.

　　The troika has estimated Cyprus's financial needs until 2016 at about 17 billion euros, a sum equal to the island's GDP -hence the difficulty of the task to bailout its economy.

　　The bulk of the money will go to the recapitalization of the banks which received a heavy blow when EU decided¹⁹ a haircut of about 73 percent on Greek bonds. Cyprus Popular Bank alone has reported an net loss of 3.65 billion euros following the 2011 write-down on Greek government bonds.

　　Reflecting the worsening situation of the financial sector, Moody's agency downgraded the credit ratings of Cypriot banks to Caa3, which is only two notches²⁰ from the end of its 11-point scale.

1 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

2 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

3 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

4 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

5 technocrats   

n.技术专家，专家政治论者( technocrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Few business barons remained. They were replaced by "technocrats," who became the heads of corporations. 企业巨头所剩无几，大多已被“技术专家”所代替，这些人成了公司的领导。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• However, bankers called the technocrats' bluff and proceeded to lend with gusto. 但是，银行家们称技术专家官员不过在虚张声势，并且还会乐观的继续借贷业务。 来自互联网

6 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

9 postponement   

n.推迟

参考例句：

• He compounded with his creditors for a postponement of payment. 他与债权人达成协议延期付款。
• Rain caused the postponement of several race-meetings. 几次赛马大会因雨延期。

10 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

11 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

13 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

14 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

15 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

16 liquidation   

n.清算，停止营业

参考例句：

• The bankrupt company went into liquidation.这家破产公司停业清盘。
• He lost all he possessed when his company was put into liquidation.当公司被清算结业时他失去了拥有的一切。

17 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

18 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

20 notches   

n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级

参考例句：

• The Indians cut notches on a stick to keep count of numbers. 印第安人在棒上刻V形凹痕用来计数。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They cut notches in the handle of their pistol for each man they shot. 他们每杀一个人就在枪托上刻下一个V形记号。 来自辞典例句