Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades categorically denies reports saying that he dismissed a proposal to exclude deposits under 100,000 euros from an one-off tax, decided by the Eurogroup last Saturday, in the framework of a bailout agreement for Cyprus.

...In a written statement, Stylianides says that President Anastasiades fought to avert this “unprecedented development”, which he adds “has been imposed in a coercive manner by those who try today to justify their own decisions”.

Their position, he went on, was that the non-inclusion of depositors with savings up to 100,000 euros would not secure the necessary bailout sum.

Cyprus’ lenders, according to Stylianides, asked during the last Eurogroup meeting the closure of two major Cypriot banks, the transfer of deposits up to 100,000 euros to a “good bank” and the clearance of the rest of the deposits.