Last minute negotiations in Cyprus aimed at averting a banking collapse stretched into the early hours of Sunday without agreement on a plan to raise funds needed to qualify for an international bailout.
Failure by Cyprus leaders to reach a deal by Monday with envoys from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund could force the country into bankruptcy and lead to its ouster from the 17-member eurozone.
Cyprus has been told by the so-called troika that it must raise $7.5 billion in order to qualify for a $13 billion bailout loan from other eurozone countries.
With the deadline looming, the government said President Nicos Anastasiades would travel later Sunday to Brussels to continue negotiations on terms of a deal.
Thousands of bank employees march to the parliament during a protest in Nicosia Mar. 23, 2013.x
Thousands of bank employees march to the parliament during a protest in Nicosia Mar. 23, 2013.
On Saturday, lawmakers were reported on the verge of approving a one-time levy on deposits of more than $130,000.
But hours later it remained unclear how much progress had been made in the talks, with conflicting information coming from the closed-door negotiations.
Earlier this week, the country's lawmakers soundly rejected an unpopular plan that would have levied a 10 percent tax on all bank accounts.
That rejection came as depositors lined up outside Cyprus banks to withdraw savings and analysts warned that panic by small depositors could spread to other European countries with faltering economies.