Cyprus president says he will ask EU to change tack, give more help to debt-crushed country
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An elderly man passes an empty closed shop with a sign reading in Greek " To rent" in central Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, April 9, 2013. Last month, Cyprus agreed that bondholders, investors and savers with more than 100,000 euros in the country's two largest — and most troubled — banks will take significant losses in exchange for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) rescue package. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) (The Associated Press)
Cyprus' president says he will ask the European Union to provide more help to the crisis-hit country, which has to pay for most of its 23 billion euro ($30 billion) bailout.
President Nicos Anastasiades said Friday that he will send letters to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy telling them of the "need for a change of EU policy" toward Cyprus by offering additional assistance.
Anastasiades didn't specify what kind of help he will seek.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cyprus has seen its share of the bailout cost swell to 13 billion euros according to a draft document by its creditors — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. That's almost double what it was initially meant to pay.