Cyprus president in crisis talks after bailout spurned

NICOSIA (AFP) - Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades was on Wednesday meeting party leaders in a frantic search for a viable plan B after MPs rejected the terms of an EU bailout aimed at saving Cyprus from bankruptcy.

The emergency meeting at the presidential palace was also being attended by Central Bank governor Panicos Demetriades and a member of the troika of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, state television said.

Under the bailout deal reached at the weekend, the troika was to provide Cyprus with 10 billion euros (S$16 billion) on condition that Nicosia raises another 5.8 billion euros.

It called for a levy of up to 9.9 per cent to be slapped on all Cyprus bank deposits, an unprecedented move that triggered outrage among savers and raised fears that other financially crippled EU states like Italy and Spain could be next.