TORONTO - The Canadian dollar was slightly higher early Friday as Cypriot lawmakers prepare to vote on a raft of new measures they hope will qualify the country for a bailout package. The Canadian dollar rose 0.03 of a cent to 97.66 cents US. The small Mediterranean island has until Monday to etch out a plan to raise 5.8 billion euros to qualify for 10 billion euros in rescue loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund. "With the (federal) budget fireworks out of the way, there is little in terms of event risk from North America today, and the focus will largely be on any potential solution for Cyprus," said George Davis chief technical analyst at RBC Capital Markets in a note. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he plans to eliminate Canada's deficit before 2015 in Thursday's federal budget. He also unveiled tighter rules for mortgages that will restrict banks' ability to insure conventional mortgages, those with over 20 per cent householder equity, to only those used in Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. securitization programs. In commodities, the April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped 40 cents to US$92.85 a barrel. The May copper contract gained 2.7 cents to US$3.45 a pound and April gold bullion fell $9.50 to US$1,604.30 an ounce.

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