Bank tellers urged customers not to take out their frustrations when the doors swung open at noon (local time) on Thursday for the first time in 12 days, while authorities trucked in shipping containers full of euros under heavy security.
World markets were jittery over the crisis, which has seen capital controls imposed for the first time by a eurozone economy in order to prevent financial meltdown after the 10-billion-euro EU-IMF rescue package.
Most banks in Nicosia had between one and three guards posted at their entrances early morning, some of them carrying weapons – an alien sight in the generally peaceful east Mediterranean tourist destination.
Banks opened unusually late to allow time to prepare for the new cash curbs and are set to stay open for six hours until 6pm (local time). Cypriot authorities appealed on television late Wednesday for people to give priority to the elderly as many did not have credit cards and had to withdraw their money over the counter.
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