Comments
Britain had sent a Royal Air Force plane to crisis-hit Cyprus yesterday carrying $1.3 million in emergency loans for British military personnel, the Defence Ministry said.
The cash cargo flight was a “contingency” plan in case banks in Cyprus stopped giving out money as the island grapples with the fallout from a controversial Euro Zone bailout deal, a spokesman said.
“An RAF flight left for Cyprus yesterday afternoon with €one million on board as a contingency measure to provide military personnel and their families with emergency loans,” the spokesman said in a statement.
“The MoD is proactively approaching personnel to ask if they want their March, and future months’ salaries paid into UK bank accounts, rather than Cypriot accounts,” he said.
The British Government had earlier reaffirmed that it would fully refund any military or government personnel whose Cyprus bank accounts were subject to an EU levy that was part of the bailout deal.
“We’re determined to do everything we can to minimise the impact of the Cyprus banking crisis on our people,” the spokesman added.
Britain does not use the euro, having stuck with the pound as its national currency.
Around 3,000 British troops are based at two military bases in Cyprus, which are used by Britain as a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean, with around 500 civilian personnel.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.