NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Yesterday lawmakers in Cyprus passed key insolvency laws designed to open the taps for more international bailout cash.

The vote makes it possible to operate foreclosure laws that international creditors have demanded as a condition for extending more loans to Cyprus.

Recession, high unemployment and declining incomes have produced defaults on more than half of all private loans. The new laws should make it easier for banks to demand payment or seize assets, thereby reducing the banks’ own liabilities.

Lawmakers had passed some of the legislative package last year, but delayed enforcement until they could approve other Bills also passed Saturday that are designed to offer protection to some vulnerable categories of debtors.

The International Monetary Fund has been withholding 88 million euros (US$95 million) in rescue money, citing Cyprus’s delay in giving banks the legal tools to deal with their load of bad debt.

One new law permits a bank to write off up to 25,000 euros (US$26,800) from an existing loan. Another enables solvent debtors to apply for legal protection against losing their homes or place of business if they’re valued at 350,000 euros (US$378,500) or less.

Cyprus’s Government officials said passage of this package of debt-related Bills means the country should be able to tap international markets for a second time since its March 2013 bailout. This could include participation in the European Central Bank’s bond-buying 1.1 trillion euro (US$1.19 trillion) stimulus programme.