Finance ministers from the eurozone have asked Cyprus to reduce the burden on small investors¹ from a proposed levy²（征税） on savings³, linked to a bailout.

 

Plans for a one-off tax of 6.75% on savings up to 100,000 euros ($130,000) have outraged⁴ Cypriots.

 

Banks in Cyprus are to remain closed until Thursday, as efforts to revise an international bailout package continue.

 

A parliamentary vote on the package has been repeatedly postponed⁵, but is now expected on Tuesday.

 

The 10bn-euro bailout agreed with the EU and IMF demands that all bank customers pay a one-off levy.

 

The government's efforts to shift more of the burden onto wealthier depositors enraged⁶ Russians, who form the bulk of overseas investors and have deposits worth billions of dollars in Cypriot banks.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the proposed levy "unfair, unprofessional and dangerous", and Moscow has expressed frustration⁷ Russia was not included in European decision-making on Cyprus.

 

Under the currently agreed terms of the levy, depositors with less than 100,000 euros in Cyprus accounts would pay a one-off tax of 6.75%, while those with sums over that threshold would pay 9.9%.

 

But the move has outraged Cypriots and sparked heavy cash withdrawals⁸ from banks.

 

Since the start of the financial crisis there has been a guarantee that deposits under 100,000 euros in banks in the EU would be protected.

 

Many observers believe the Cypriot levy breaks the spirit of that agreement, and there is concern that it could also damage the confidence of depositors in other eurozone countries, reports the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels.

 

Eurozone finance ministers - the Eurogroup - discussed the situation in a conference call on Monday evening.

 

Following the talks, its president Jeroen Dijsselbloem issued a statement saying the group "continues to be of the view that small depositors should be treated differently from large depositors and reaffirms the importance of fully⁹ guaranteeing deposits below 100,000 euros".

 

He said Cyprus would "introduce more progressivity in the one-off levy" - in other words, shift the burden away from small savers towards bigger depositors - provided that the same amount of funds, 5.8bn euros, was raised.

 

Mr Dijsselbloem urged "a swift decision by the Cypriot authorities and parliament to rapidly implement¹⁰ the agreed measures".

 

President Anastasiades has been holding talks with ministers and MPs at the parliament building in Nicosia, where hundreds of people noisily protested on Monday.

 

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Nicosia says there are suggestions Mr Anastasiades may want to lower the former rate to 3%, while raising the levy on the larger depositors to 12.5%.

 

The debate and vote in Cyprus' parliament is now scheduled for 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Tuesday. It was to have been held on Sunday.

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