Finance Ministers Approve Cyprus Bailout Package

Eurozone finance ministers have formally approved the terms of Cyprus’s economic bailout package.

At a meeting in Dublin on April 12, the finance ministers said a 17 billion euro ($22 billion) deal agreed to on March 25 with Nicosia can now go ahead once it is cleared by national parliaments.

Nicosia this week raised its estimate of the total money it needs to emerge from its financial crisis from 17 billion euros ($22 billion) to 23 billion euros ($30 billion).

The jump means Cyprus now must find 6 billion euros ($7.8 billion) more than it originally estimated when it made its March deal with the Eurogroup to secure an EU-IMF contribution of 10 billion euros ($13 billion).

Based on reporting by AFP and AP