NICOSIA: Cyprus Finance Minister Michalis Sarris reported "significant progress" in talks on Saturday with EU-led creditors, but said there were also some unresolved issues that still had to be addressed.
The authorities on the island, a eurozone member, are scrambling to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) this weekend in order to unlock a 10-billion-euro bailout from a troika of lenders.
"Significant progress has been made towards achieving an agreement with the troika," Sarris said after talks with the officials from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.
He added, however, that "several issues arose that need further working on" in the talks that are aimed at clinching a bailout deal for the island before a Monday deadline set by the ECB.
Sarris indicated that experts were assessing details of the rescue package proposed by the Cyprus government ahead of more talks at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT).
The minister said that part of the discussions centred on a proposal to impose a tax on bank savings held at the Bank of Cyprus, the island's biggest lender.
"It's one of the issues that we are discussing, we will come back to it this afternoon to discuss again what is the best way," he said in remarks to Greek-language reporters.
The government is considering imposing a levy of reportedly up to 25 percent on deposits of more than 100,000 euros held at the Bank of Cyprus, as well as restructuring Laiki Bank (Cyprus Popular Bank) into a "good" and "bad" bank.
Asked if the levy was that high, Sarris said: "I was asked to give an indication and I said the figure being weighed up over the past 24 hours was around there.
"But whether this percentage is valid or not is one of the issues we are discussing and later this afternoon we will be in a position to be more specific."
The European Union has given Cyprus until Monday to raise the 5.8 billion euros or face being choked off from ECB emergency funding in a move that would bankrupt the country.
Sarris estimated that the legislation would be tabled in parliament later on Saturday.
"This will depend on progress made, but my estimation is that by late afternoon or early evening it will be ready and can be discussed at the House plenum," he told reporters.
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