Cyprus asks for 11-bln-euro bailout

Cyprus has asked for an 11-billion-euro international bailout to recapitalize its banks and pay its bills, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The country's banks, which lost more than 4 billion euros in Greece's debt restructuring earlier this year, need 5 billion euros of fresh capital, according to Bloomberg's sources. The troika (EU-ECB-IMF) that oversees euro-area rescues puts Cypriot banks' recapitalization needs at about 10 billion euros. Cyprus on June 25 became the fifth country in the euro area to seek external aid, but no amount was specified at the time. The island has not had access to international market financing since May 2011, and faces 4.7 billion euros of bond redemptions through 2015, according to Bloomberg.