The Board of Directors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which convened in Athens, approved today the disbursement of €150 million to Cyprus, following the positive assessment of the third quarterly review of Cyprus’s macroeconomic adjustment programme.

“This disbursement marks another successful completion of the review and the authorities’ commitment to the programme. It is important to maintain the reform momentum as many challenges still lay ahead,”ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling said.

The current disbursement will bring the total amount of ESM financial assistance for Cyprus to €4.75 billion.

The remaining portion of the approximately €9 billion committed to Cyprus by the ESM is scheduled to be paid in quarterly disbursements until 2016.

Cyprus and the Troika, consisting of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the ECB agreed on €10 billion bailout to cover its financing needs as well as to recapitalise its banking sector.