IMF to hand Cyprus more bailout cash

Bailed-out Cyprus is to receive another €126m from the International Monetary Fund, which says the island nation’s reform programme continues to be “a success”.

The IMF said total disbursements so far amounted to around €882m from a contribution of around one billion euros.

Another €9bn is being provided by the European Union’s bailout fund.

IMF deputy managing director Mitsuhiro Furusawa said Cyprus’ economy fared better than expected in the first half of the year.

But he urged more efforts to deal with a huge number of bad loans, cautious spending because of high public debt and speedier privatisations.

Cyprus’ March 2013 rescue deal included a grab of uninsured deposits from its two biggest banks.