BRUSSELS: Eurozone finance ministers will meet in Brussels on Sunday evening in a last-ditch bid to find a solution for bankruptcy-threatened Cyprus and fix a broken bailout accord, three separate sources told AFP late on Friday.
"It'll be physical," said one source, and "start at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Sunday," said a second, with the third confirming later that "Sunday is on. It's definite."
The news came after ratings giant Moody's downgraded the credit-worthiness of Cyprus's top three banks, and state TV in Nicosia said the Mediterranean island's government plans a tax of up to 15 percent on bank deposits as part of a deal to secure promised eurozone and International Monetary Fund loans.
The eurozone and EU planning was firmed up just as restive crowds, mostly bank employees anxious that their employers not be sacrificed in the deal, gathered outside the Cypriot parliament awaiting an emergency session expected to determine their future.
Cyprus has until Monday to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.47 billion) to unlock loans worth 10 billion euros or face being denied European Central Bank emergency funds in a move that would choke its banks and devastate its economy.
<Center><b><i>Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013</b></i></center>
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