The Cyprus Ministry of Finance has announced the following further relaxations of capital controls:
- the daily limit on cash withdrawals of €300 per natural person and €500 per legal person has been removed;
- the limit on domestic transfers of funds for unspecified purposes has been increased from €20,000 to €50,000 per month for individuals and from €100,000 to €200,000 per month for companies;
- the prohibition on terminating a fixed term deposit prior to its maturity date has been removed;
- banks may now open fixed term deposits for new customers provided that the amount to be deposited exceeds €5,000.
According to the Ministry of Finance's announcement, the relaxation of restrictions reflects the progress made in achieving the milestones set out in the government's roadmap for stabilising and restoring confidence in the Cyprus banking system.
It is widely expected that all remaining controls will be removed by the end of 2014.
It should be noted that the restrictions apply only to funds that were already in the Cyprus banking system on 25 April 2013. Funds transferred to Cyprus after that date are not subject to any restriction.
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