Tax exemption could scupper bailout deal: banker

NICOSIA: A revised Cyprus bailout plan that exempts small savers from a controversial tax will not yield the 5.8 billion euros demanded by the eurozone and could therefore be rejected, Central Bank governor Panicos Demetriades warned on Tuesday.

Given the amendments to the bill, the tax which was originally to have applied to all bank deposits "will not yield the estimated 5.8 billion euros agreed by the Eurogroup," the governor told parliament's finance committee.

"If we secure 5.5 billion it will be considered in breach of the agreement and perhaps will not be accepted," he said, as cited by the Cyprus News Agency.