Europe's debt crisis tsar has promised that an unprecedented raid on the bank accounts of Cypriots will not be repeated.
Euro-area finance ministers agreed to a tax on Cypriot bank deposits as officials unveiled a €10billion ($A12.57 billion) rescue plan for the country, the fifth since Europe's debt crisis hit in 2009.
In a move that has caused shock and dismay among its citizens, Cyprus will impose a levy of 6.75 per cent on deposits of less than €100,000 - the ceiling for European Union account insurance - and 9.9per cent above that.
Asked whether a future EU-mandated bank levy can be categorically ruled out, Olli Rehn, who is the European Union Economic and Monetary Commissioner, said that ''it can and there is no concrete case where it should be considered''.
Mr Rehn said he did not expect an adverse market reaction to the precedent-setting tax on deposits both above and below the insured limit of €100,000. ''Market forces understand that the sheer size of the problem of the Cypriot banking sector and its troubles were so huge that we needed to take very substantial measures,'' he said.
Read more: Cyprus bank raid pushes Europe into uncharted waters
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