The New York Times - 2/23/13, Liz Alderman and James Kanter
Cyprus’s president, Nicos Anastasiades, left, met with top Cypriot officials on Wednesday at the presidential palace in Nicosia. He was expected to fly to Brussels late Saturday for meetings. Petros Giannakouris/Associated Press
NICOSIA, Cyprus — With Cyprus facing a Monday deadline to avoid a banking collapse, the government and its international negotiators devised a plan late Saturday to seize a portion of savers’ deposits above 100,000 euros at all banks in the country, in a bid to raise money for an urgently needed bailout.
A one-time levy of 20 percent would be placed on uninsured deposits at one of the nation’s biggest banks, the Bank of Cyprus, to help raise 5.8 billion euros demanded by the lenders to secure a 10 billion euro, or $12.9 billion, lifeline. A separate tax of 4 percent would be assessed on uninsured deposits at all other banks, including the 26 foreign banks that operate in Cyprus.
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