Cyprus Limits ATM Withdrawals At Biggest Banks, As Panicked Savers Race To Drain Accounts

Cyprus Limits ATM Withdrawls
Cypriots and foreigners wait in line to withdraw money from an ATM of a Laiki (Popular) Bank branch in the old city of the capital, Nicosia, on March 21, 2013. Anxious Cypriots queued outside Popular Bank ATM machines to withdraw their cash as fears rose that the country's banking meltdown will mean its second largest bank closes for ever. AFP PHOTO /PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)
Cypriots and foreigners wait in line to withdraw money from an ATM of a Laiki (Popular) Bank branch in the old city of the capital, Nicosia, on March 21, 2013. Anxious Cypriots queued outside Popular Bank ATM machines to withdraw their cash as fears rose that the country's banking meltdown will mean its second largest bank closes for ever. AFP PHOTO /PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

NICOSIA, March 24 (Reuters) - The central bank in Cyprus imposed a 100-euros per day withdrawal limit at cash machines for the island's two biggest banks on Sunday to avert a run on the lenders.

A spokesman for second largest lender Cyprus Popular Bank , which had previously limited withdrawals to 260 euros, said the new measure began at 1 p.m. (1100 GMT) and would remain in place until the bank reopens, scheduled for Tuesday, or until confirmation of continued emergency funding from the European Central Bank.

A government official, who declined to be named, said the restriction also applied to Bank of Cyprus. The official had earlier said the measure applied to all local banks on the island. Other banks have not imposed limits. (Reporting by Michele Kambas and Laura Noonan; Editing by Matt Robinson)

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