International lenders say no deal yet to restart Cyprus aid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A troika of international lenders said on Friday that talks aimed at restarting aid to Cyprus had fallen short of an agreement, and they stressed the need for Nicosia to fully reinstate a foreclosure law.
"Given the further suspension of the effective application of the foreclosure framework, reaching staff-level agreement on the review was not possible during this visit," the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund said in a joint statement after talks in Cyprus this week.
"The teams look forward to a timely completion of the review as soon as the conditions are in place for a positive conclusion," they added.
Cyprus's parliament has postponed implementation of a foreclosure law until March 3, locked in a standoff with the government over criteria on whom the law should apply to under an insolvencies framework.
Adoption of the law is a so-called 'prior action' for further disbursement of aid. Lenders say the law is essential to help arrest growing non-performing loans, now exceeding 50 percent of the total number of loans and potentially stifling growth.
The island nation has received just over half its 10 billion euros (7 billion pound) bailout aid under a three-year adjustment programme running to 2016.
(Reporting by Timothy Ahmann; additional reporting by Michele Kambas in Nicosia; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
