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Cypriot bailout will be needed before election
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The Cypriot government needs to strike a deal with international creditors on a bailout package before the country’s presidential election in February, a European Union official said on Friday. Cypriot authorities feel a “higher degree of urgency” to conclude a deal, the official told reporters in Brussels on condition of anonymity. It’s “desirable and necessary” for a bailout agreement to be in place before Cypriots elect a new president, the official said. Talks resumed in Nicosia on Friday with the so-called troika that oversees euro-area bailouts. No consensus has been reached on the size of the bailout within the troika, comprising the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, a second official said on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. Cyprus in late June became the fifth euro-area nation to request a financial rescue since a 2010 bailout of Greece. The bailout will encompass banks weakened by their exposure to the Greek economy as well as the public sector. Euro-area finance ministers will discuss the Cypriot request at the Eurogroup meeting on Monday, the EU official said. [Bloomberg] | 
