Euro zone shivers as Cyprus panics
- 11 years ago
Protestors were out in force as Cyprus's MPs held crisis talks.
The island may be tiny but the impact of its financial crisis is potentially huge.
(SOUNDBITE)(Greek) PROTESTER WHO DID NOT WANT TO BE NAMED SAYING:
"We are cleaning ladies and spend our days trying to earn some money to feed our children, now they are saying they are going to take it from us? It's unacceptable!"
(SOUNDBITE)(Greek) PROTESTER, MOSES MOESIS, SAYING:
"If the government had asked us to donate what we could, we would have offered a month's wages maybe even two months, but what they are doing now is creating chaos."
Cashpoints were emptied at the weekend after the EU decided to seize money from bank depositors as part of a bailout.
The shock that such savings were no longer sacrosanct spread far beyond Cypriot shores.
Commerzbank's Peter Dixon.
SOUNDBITE: Peter Dixon, Global Financial Economist, Commerzbank, saying (English):
"If I were a saver in Spain
The island may be tiny but the impact of its financial crisis is potentially huge.
(SOUNDBITE)(Greek) PROTESTER WHO DID NOT WANT TO BE NAMED SAYING:
"We are cleaning ladies and spend our days trying to earn some money to feed our children, now they are saying they are going to take it from us? It's unacceptable!"
(SOUNDBITE)(Greek) PROTESTER, MOSES MOESIS, SAYING:
"If the government had asked us to donate what we could, we would have offered a month's wages maybe even two months, but what they are doing now is creating chaos."
Cashpoints were emptied at the weekend after the EU decided to seize money from bank depositors as part of a bailout.
The shock that such savings were no longer sacrosanct spread far beyond Cypriot shores.
Commerzbank's Peter Dixon.
SOUNDBITE: Peter Dixon, Global Financial Economist, Commerzbank, saying (English):
"If I were a saver in Spain