Ueno Bank depositors start getting money back: Paraguay Central Bank official

ASUNCION: Paraguay has started paying advances to Ueno Bank depositors who lost access to their funds with its dramatic takeover earlier this week, a Central Bank official told AFP on Friday.

Chaos engulfed the small South American nation when Tuesday's seizure of Ueno blocked the accounts of almost half the population.

Huge protests have rattled Asuncion, with President Santiago Pena resigning but still facing impeachment over the implosion of the bank linked to him.

Advance payments to impacted depositors began on Thursday afternoon, Jose Maciel of the Central Bank's Deposit Guarantee Fund told AFP.

The first phase concerns clients with deposits of up to around $1,600, without loans and with an account at another bank or insitution in Paraguay, Maciel said.