Cyprus partly eased restrictions on bank operations on Thursday by allowing free transactions of up to 300,000 euros domestically and raising the ceiling for company payment abroad.

A new decree issued by the Ministry of Finance raises the threshold for company payments abroad to 20,000 from 5,000 euros without prior approval by a Central Bank committee.

Overseas transactions of between 20,001 and 300,000 euros still need a vetting by an ad hoc committee.

Travellers will also be permitted to carry 2,000 euros on each trip abroad, up from a previous ceiling of 1,000 euros.

The restrictions were imposed on March 28 after the Eurogroup imposed an unprecedented haircut on deposits over 100,000 euros in the biggest bank -- Bank of Cyprus and the merger of Bank of Cyprus and Popular Bank, the second biggest bank, in return for a 10-billion-euro bailout for Cyprus.

A sixth decree in a row by the Ministry of Finance leaves in place a threshold of 300 euros in cash withdrawals per day.

The decree introduces a new restriction in opening an account in a bank which is different from the one in which a client already has. Opening such a new account is allowed only for depositing money from abroad or after a prior approval by the ad hoc committee.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2013)