The usually busy shopping streets of central Nicosia are eerily quiet.br br Customers simply aren't coming here to spend their money as the country scrambles to avert financial meltdown.br br Banks, shut since the weekend, will remain closed for the rest of the week.br br Although Cypriots have access to cash from restocked machines for now, shoppers are preferring to keep their money in their pockets.br br All this means yet more pain for those running Cyprus's small businesses such as textile and clothes shop owner Andreas Polemidiotis.br br SOUNDBITE: Andreas Polemidiotis, textile and clothes shop owner (English), saying:br br "The thing is it is hard to accept cheques or visas (credit cards), ok, preferably cash but everyone is trying to save their cash so they are not buying anything."br br Another shop owner Nicolas Mitsigiorgius said Cypriots are avoiding any non-essential purchases because of the climate of uncertainty.