Cypriot Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said on Thursday that Nicosia had reached a preliminary agreement with the troika of international creditor, namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission.

He added that the agreement should be supplemented with an estimation of the Cypriot banks’ recapitalization needs.

“There is a preliminary deal with the troika,” Shiarly said. “(But) I anticipate discussions over the next few weeks will be difficult, perhaps more so than before.”

The minister went on to say that consultants would prepare an interim assessment by December 7 while stopping short of specifying the banks’ needs.

The island has been discussing the conditions of receiving a financial help with the IMF as well as European Union institutions since June. Cyprus might require up to 17.5 billion euros ($22.6 billion), an amount which is the same size as Cyprus’ whole annual economic output.

Cyprus is negotiating a four-year program with its troika of international lenders that call for harsh spending cuts and targets a budget surplus of 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2016.

The government, which is greatly dependent on short-term borrowing, has called for a 6.5 to 12.5 percent decrease in salaries, an increase in the retirement age for the public sector by two years, an incremental slash in the public sector workforce by 2016 and finally a suspension of wage indexation.

Meanwhile, the international lenders highlight that in order to reach a final agreement on financial aid to Cyprus, more clarity on the capital needs of Cypriot banks are needed.