Cyprus expects to raise €10m monthly from savings bonds

Cyprus expects to raise 10 million euros (13.8 million U.S. dollars) every month from savings bonds to be issued as of Friday, Finance Minister Haris Georgiades said on Thursday. The monthly savings bonds will be made available at the beginning of each month and will be allocated to retail investors on the basis of application submitted by the 20th of each month. The six-year bonds will bear a 5.75-percent coupon at maturity six years later but can be redeemed with a lower interest rate starting at 2.75 percent two years after acquisition. The local bond comes on the heels of a 100-million-euro bond issue placed privately through an overseas investor which was announced by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday. The six-year bond has a hefty 6.50 percent coupon, but Georgiades commented that this still compared very favorably with yields of Cyprus bonds of over 14 percent since the eastern Mediterranean island was shut out of international markets as far back as 2010. "Both issues are a positive first step for the return of Cyprus to international markets planned for next year. This is planned very carefully and studiously," Georgiades told journalists. Just 13 months after a tumultuous 10-billion-euro bailout that brought Cyprus on its knees, there are increasing signs that the economy is on the verge of picking up after a better than expected performance in 2013. Bank of Cyprus, which became the first lender to be ever recapitalized by turning the money of its depositors into equity, will release on Friday one-third of 933 million euros of assets frozen in nine-month time deposits. The money will be made totally available to depositors in two more installments at the end of July and October respectively. Bank of Cyprus said the move reflected its improving liquidity situation and a better economic outlook. Economic analysts said the move is expected to give a boost to the cash-starved real economy. In a parallel move aimed at improving bank liquidity, the government has said it will deposit its cash assets in interest bearing accounts with three commercial banks, namely Bank of Cyprus, Hellenic Bank and Cooperative Central Bank, instead of giving it to the Central Bank for safe keeping. A government spokesman said this action is aimed at both pumping liquidity into the economy and sending out a signal that the banking system is trustworthy again. There are still restrictions on the transfer of funds from bank accounts which are expected to be fully lifted by the end of June, while restrictions on international transfers are scheduled to be lifted by the end of the year.