NICOSIA: Cyprus said on Saturday it had seen no sign in talks with the troika of international lenders that its proposals on an austerity package were "insufficient", as suggested by a document this week.
While Cypriot Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly openly admitted on Friday that a number of issues were still unresolved with lenders, authorities took issue with the language in the document, obtained by Reuters in Berlin on Friday.
"After many days of negotiations the government sent its final answers and clarifications to all issues raised by the troika on Nov. 1," government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said in a statement.
"Since then the government has not received any answer, or assessment that the troika believes its proposals are insufficient," he said.
The document obtained by Reuters in Berlin read: "An agreement between the troika and Cyprus over key data of the programme is pending.
In the meantime Cyprus has submitted its own proposals on a possible MOU which above all target the fiscal aspects of the MOU and which in the view of the troika are insufficient.
"The Eurogroup working group has again urged Cyprus to cooperate with the troika."
Cyprus applied for an EU bailout in June after its banks reported massive losses on exposure to Greece's debt writedown.
The island, one of the euro zone's smallest economies, has vowed to resist troika calls for privatisation and a scrapping of wage indexation.
There is also disagreement between the two sides on the capital requirements of its banks.
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