Cypriot President : No plans to exit euro zone

Cyprus’s president has vehemently denied speculations the country plans to leave the eurozone in the wake of the unprecedented situation it was forced into. “We have no intention of leaving the euro,” President Nicos Anastasiades said at meeting of civil servants in Nicosia on Friday. “In no way will we experiment with the future of our country”. He was quoted by Sofia News Agency as saying the financial situation was “contained” following the 10bn euro bailout deal with the EU and IMF. Still Anastasiades accused other members of the eurozone of making “unprecedented demands that forced Cyprus to become an experiment”. “We have averted the risk of bankruptcy,” he said. “The situation, despite the tragedy of it all, is contained.” Banks in Cyprus reopened on Thursday after a two-week closure sparked by discussions on an EU-IMF bailout and amid tough capital curbs. Branches were replenished with cash overnight and police were deployed amid fears of large queues. They began to open at noon local time (10:00 GMT) and closed at 18:00 (16:00 GMT). Capital controls, imposed to prevent worried savers and businesses rushing to withdraw all their money, include limiting cash withdrawals to EUR 300 (USD 383) per day per person and limiting payments abroad to EUR 5,0 00.