Friday, May 17, 2013

Risks for Cyprus are "unusually high"


May 17 (Reuters) - The IMF said on Friday that risks for Cyprus were "unusually high" given its weak banking sector and economy and the island's full adoption of an economic austerity plan was imperative.
The island's 17.5 billion euro economy faced risks from the uncertain impact of the crisis in its banking sector and the possibility that its economic contraction could be deeper than projected, the IMF said in a staff report.
"Given substantial risks to the outlook and debt sustainability, there is no room for implementation slippages," it said.
The Fund said the impact of Cyprus's debt crisis on its economy will last longer than for other euro zone members that have had debt problems, with the exception of Greece.