Cyprus bank shutdown enters second week as authorities move to prevent account run

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Banks across Cyprus remain firmly padlocked after financial authorities extended the country’s bank closure, fearing worried depositors will rush to drain their accounts. The shut-down is hammering businesses, which have been without access to their funds for more than a week.

All but the country’s two largest lenders had been due to reopen Tuesday, after being shut while politicians figured out how to raise the funds necessary for Cyprus to qualify for an international bailout. Under the deal for a 10 billion euro ($12.94 billion) rescue clinched in Brussels early Monday, Cyprus agreed to slash its oversized banking sector and inflict hefty losses on large depositors in troubled banks.

Hundreds of angry students from a left-wing student union gathered outside Parliament, screaming “People, fight back, they’re sucking your blood.”