Cyprus bailout likely much smaller than ?17 bln

(AP) A top European official says a bailout package for Cyprus and its troubled financial sector will likely be closer to 10 billion ($13 billion) than the earlier floated 17 billion.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem is the Netherlands' finance minister and heads the Eurogroup, the regular meetings of finance ministers of the 17-country eurozone.

Speaking to Dutch national broadcaster NOS on the sidelines of a debate with Dutch parliament late Wednesday, he said that reports Cyprus will receive 17 million are mistaken.

"That's going considerably lower, in the direction of ten billion," Dijsselbloem said. He didn't give specifics about the package to be discussed Friday but said Russia might help more than it already has and Cyprus would not be left with an unsustainable debt load.

Parliament later approved Dutch participation.