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We knew for many months that Cyprus (like Greece) was in big economic trouble and would soon be in need of a bailout or a Jubilee. It seems that they have chosen the bailout route. Today the politicians decided to tax the people's savings accounts. Those who have savings of $100,000 or more will pay 9.9% tax. Those who have less will pay only 6.7%.
The bottom line of the Cyprus story is that politicians are forcing a new 10 billion euro bailout—to be paid directly from the bank accounts of ordinary people.
The people of Cyprus, most of whom never saw this coming, never had a chance. Without social media they would not have known their accounts were frozen as of today.
This new tactic, approved by the IMF, sets a precedent for any and all countries that may ask for a bailout. Up to now, countries have been known to take retirement funds--or force those funds to "buy" government bonds, which just replaces those funds with IOU's that may never be repaid. That is what our own government has been doing. But to impose a direct tax on savings is something new. Most of those savings accounts in Cyprus are owned by people who have already paid high taxes. Their savings accounts are what was left over after paying tax. So in effect, the government has raised taxes retroactively.
Banks are closed, and Monday is a holiday in Cyprus. People can't get their money out of the banks, except in a very limited way, where they might find an ATM machine.
If anyone thought that people didn't trust banks before, the level of mistrust has just become universal. It is likely that this action will cause bank runs next week in Cyprus, and then the whole banking system there will be in trouble.
This will also cause people in every other country to look more closely at their own bank, especially in countries that are in financial trouble, such as France and Spain. Yes, America, too, although we have not yet reached the critical point. Those who think long-term will start making changes necessary to protect their money from government confiscation.
Jim Sinclair has commented on the Cyprus situation, showing how Russia could react.
“The wire reports on the Cyprus situation are working overtime to try to make the case that 80% of the deposits belong to the people of Cyprus, and only 20% of the deposits belong to the Russians. That’s absolutely false. After 1985, when the ‘Robber Barrons’ of Russia took over the general economics of Russia, that was the transformation from the KGB to private business. The primary place for exported Russian funds was Cyprus.
Now, there is one leader in the world that would be very dangerous to challenge and that is Putin of Russia...
“What’s just happened is the IMF has backed up, lauded, supported, and publicized, as if it were a victory, the taking of 10% of what really turns out to be 80% of Russian ‘black money.’ Russian ‘black money’ is KGB money, now in business. The leader of Russia (Putin) was a former KGB official. Whose money do you think they have taken? This is the biggest mistake the IMF could possibly have ever made.”
Sinclair makes the case for a rise in gold prices if Russia decides to punish the West for its theft of their funds in Cyprus.
Given the timing of this event (March 17), toward the end of our prayer campaign that ends March 18, it is a virtual certainty that this event in Cyprus is directly connected to the prayer campaign. My early guess is that this is the red dragon's final desperate gamble to remain in power (i.e., stay solvent), but that its actions will backfire on them and set into motion a series of financial storms and crises that will be its undoing.