Cyprus Financial Crisis

Cyprus' finance minister says the east Mediterranean island nation is on track to conclude its multibillion euro rescue program on time this March, almost exactly three years after receiving the lifeline.

Successive Slovenian governments have refused to privatise the country's banks, which made disastrous loans to politically connected business interests and now threaten to drag the country centre stage in the euro zone debt crisis.

The S&P 500 ended the week down 0.2 per cent, which was just its second weekly decline of the year, as investors were alarmed that Europe's debt crisis would again roil markets over Cyprus' financial troubles.

World shares were heading for their worst week since November and gold was nearly at a one-month high on Friday as Cyprus scrambled to avoid a meltdown of its banks and exit from the euro that could upset the whole region.

Gold was on course for its biggest weekly gain in four months, after safe-haven buying prompted by the financial crisis in Cyprus took the price to a three-and-a-half week high in the previous session.

Oil prices were nearly unchanged on Friday after a big dip the day before as the financial crisis in Cyprus kept traders on the edge.

Five days after Cyprus's panicked leaders ordered banks to close their doors, the fate of the financial system hangs in the balance and credit cards are going out of fashion. Reluctant to accept the promise of payment from customers, shop owners say wholesalers are demanding cash on delivery. Some petrol stations, too, are refusing credit cards. Re...

Stock markets around the world rose and the euro held firm on Wednesday on hopes that European policymakers would contain the financial crisis in Cyprus after lawmakers there voted down a rescue plan.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as energy markets set aside worries about a financial crisis in Cyprus after the release of strong US housing data.

International lenders struck a deal on Saturday to hand Cyprus a bailout worth 10 billion euros to stave off bankruptcy, a senior euro zone official said. Cyprus is the fifth country after Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain to turn to the euro zone for financial help in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis that started in 2010.

The island nation said it required assistance following "negative spillover effects through its financial sector, due to its large exposure in the Greek economy."

Cyprus' finance minister says the east Mediterranean island nation is on track to conclude its multibillion euro rescue program on time this March, almost exactly three years after receiving the lifeline.

Successive Slovenian governments have refused to privatise the country's banks, which made disastrous loans to politically connected business interests and now threaten to drag the country centre stage in the euro zone debt crisis.

The S&P 500 ended the week down 0.2 per cent, which was just its second weekly decline of the year, as investors were alarmed that Europe's debt crisis would again roil markets over Cyprus' financial troubles.

World shares were heading for their worst week since November and gold was nearly at a one-month high on Friday as Cyprus scrambled to avoid a meltdown of its banks and exit from the euro that could upset the whole region.

Gold was on course for its biggest weekly gain in four months, after safe-haven buying prompted by the financial crisis in Cyprus took the price to a three-and-a-half week high in the previous session.

Oil prices were nearly unchanged on Friday after a big dip the day before as the financial crisis in Cyprus kept traders on the edge.

Five days after Cyprus's panicked leaders ordered banks to close their doors, the fate of the financial system hangs in the balance and credit cards are going out of fashion. Reluctant to accept the promise of payment from customers, shop owners say wholesalers are demanding cash on delivery. Some petrol stations, too, are refusing credit cards. Re...

Stock markets around the world rose and the euro held firm on Wednesday on hopes that European policymakers would contain the financial crisis in Cyprus after lawmakers there voted down a rescue plan.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as energy markets set aside worries about a financial crisis in Cyprus after the release of strong US housing data.

International lenders struck a deal on Saturday to hand Cyprus a bailout worth 10 billion euros to stave off bankruptcy, a senior euro zone official said. Cyprus is the fifth country after Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain to turn to the euro zone for financial help in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis that started in 2010.

The island nation said it required assistance following "negative spillover effects through its financial sector, due to its large exposure in the Greek economy."