YEREVAN, April 26, /ARKA/. Cypriot banks lost 1.8 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in deposits in March, when the country agreed to tax bank deposits as part of a European Union-led bailout. Deposits decreased 3.9 percent from February, when they dropped 2.2 percent, banki.ru reported citing the latest data from the European Central Bank.

That’s the 10th straight decline. Cypriot deposits in March totaled 44.6 billion euros, down from 46.4 billion euros the previous month. Cypriot officials, euro-area finance ministers and the ECB agreed mid-March on an unprecedented measure to impose a levy on deposits of less than 100,000 euros under a 10 billion-euro bailout. The plan was ditched after the country’s parliament rejected it, and a new accord was reached imposing a tax only on deposits above 100,000 euros. -0-