Cypriot central bank governor resigns

   Cyprus' Central Bank (CBC) Governor Panicos Demetriades resigned his post, an official announcement said on Monday. "The governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus Mr Panicos Demetriades submitted his resignation to the President of the Republic Mr Nicos Anastasiades and it was accepted," said the statement issued by the Presidential Palace. No official reasons for the resignation were given, but reports said he had a strained relationship with the government since Anastasiades became president since March, 2013. Central Bank sources said that in his letter of resignation, Demetriades said he had difficulties in working with the CBC Board of Directors and also mentioned personal and family reasons. The government had repeatedly blamed Demetriades for mishandling issues related to the resolution of Cypriot banks which was made a condition for a 10-billion-euro (13.8 billion U.S. dollars) bailout accorded to Cyprus by the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund in late March, 2013. The statement said Demetriades handed his resignation to Cypriot minister of finance in Brussels, in the presence of a representative of the European Central Bank (ECB). Demetriades represents Cyprus on the ECB governing council. There was not immediately a comment on the resignation by the ECB which had repeatedly cautioned the Cypriot government on its moves to remove Demetriades. President Anastasiades had said in September last year that he wanted to remove Demetriades from his post, in which he had been for about two years, after being appointed by the previous left wing government of the eastern Mediterranean island. Anastasiades had repeatedly criticized Demetriades for delaying the process for the exit of Cypriot banks out of resolution status, but his statement said he thanked the Central Bank governor for his contribution in the efforts to rescue the economy from default and the stabilization of the banking sector. Cyprus had originally applied for a bailout in mid-2012 after being shut out of international markets for over a year, but the left-wing government at the time stalled negotiations with international lenders until the end of its term in February last year. Under the terms of the bailout memorandum, Cyprus had to wind down its second largest bank and seize almost one-half of uninsured deposits to recapitalize the main lender, Bank of Cyprus. Restrictions on bank transactions, including transfers abroad, are still in force. The outgoing Central Bank governor was blamed for contributing towards raising the recapitalization amount needed by the banking system. Demetriades will stay at his post until April 10 since he was required to give a month's notice for resigning, to oversee any pending issues and also brief his successor.