ECONOMY

Cypriot bailout will be needed before election

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]

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