Germany's lower house of parliament voted overwhelmingly on Thursday (April 18) in favour of a bailout for Cyprus.

Of the 602 lawmakers in the Bundestag who voted on the 10 billion euro rescue, 487 backed it, while 102 opposed it and 13 abstained.

Separately, German parliamentarians also backed seven-year loan extensions for bailout victims Portugal and Ireland.

The Cyprus vote was not in doubt given widespread support from within German Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition and backing by many opposition lawmakers from the Social Democrats and Greens.

However, surprise news on Wednesday that the fractious Cypriot parliament is also likely to vote on the deal stoked new uncertainty over the fate of the rescue.

Presented by Adam Justice