Cause of Cypriot crisis differs from Greece

Commission Vice President Olli Rehn, through his spokesman, Simon O`Connor, arguing that the cases of Cyprus and Greece do not have common points, assures that there would not be a similar decision for Greece as there was for Cyprus.

Replying to questions concerning remarks by Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem that the decision on Cyprus could become a model for other Eurozone countries, O`Connor said the Greek crisis, unlike the Cypriot one, did not begin in the banking sector, which in Greece is much smaller, that is twice the size of the country`s GDP compared to the case of Cyprus where the banking sector is seven times its GDP.

He said that another element was that Greece has significantly improved the supervision of its banks, thus securing careful administration.

O`Connor also said that Greece operates a Financial Stability Fund, which, with a funding of €50 billion from the Eurozone bailout fund, guarantees the recapitalisation of the banking sector, which will be completed within the next two months and secures the high capital adequacy and banking activities.

Furthermore, he noted that in Greece, during the stabilisation of the banking sector, all savings were available to the beneficiaries and this will continue to apply in the future.