Posts Tagged ‘Imf’
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
A rally is about to take place this afternoon in Reykjavik in support of Greece and to protest the massive austerity package Greeks are being forced to accept.
The rally is organised by the left wing activism group, Attac Iceland and a statement says that the “So called IMF and EU help to Greece is a serious attack on the rights of ordinary Greeks that will result in redundancies, reduced wages, cuts to public services and higher taxes.
Supporters are invited to assemble at Arnarholl hill in central Reykjavik today at 16.00 GMT
Tags: Activism, Austerity, Central Reykjavik, Greece, Greeks, Hammers, Imf, Left Wing, Protests, Rally, Wages
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Monday, May 3rd, 2010
“Oh my God, I wouldn’t want to be in the position they are in,” said Icelandic Minister of Finance Steingrimur J. Sigfusson to Bloomberg. In the interview he said he believes Iceland avoided Greece’s fate partly because it has its own currency.
“The Greek position is very different to that which Iceland was or is in,” Sigfusson said. “Greece has the euro and we could debate whether that’s good for them at the moment.”
“The sovereign debt crisis will mark the political debate of the years to come,” Sigfusson said. “What lies ahead for the world is to sober up.”
Sigfusson told Bloomberg that the likelihood of an Icelandic default has all but disappeared now that the IMF has paid out on the second tranche of its loan package to the country. “I am optimistic that we will not need all the 4.6 billion dollars that the IMF programme allows for,” Sigfusson said.
The minister said he would like to see financial practices like derivatives and credit default swaps prohibited. Such practices do nothing for the economy as a whole, he said.
Tags: Billion Dollars, Credit Default Swaps, Debt Crisis, Derivatives, Fate, Finance Minister, Financial Practices, Financiers, Greece, Green Leader, Icesave, Imf, Krona, Likelihood, Loan Package, Minister Of Finance, Money Secret, Political Debate, Sovereign Debt, Tranche
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Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
The report made by a task force on behalf of the International Monetary Fund in relation to the IMF’s second review of the economic stabilization program for Iceland was released last week. Its main conclusion is that Iceland’s financial position is better than expected.
Tags: Conclusion, Economic Stabilization, Financial Position, Iceland, Imf, International Monetary Fund, Stabilization Program, Task Force
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Friday, April 23rd, 2010
The international ratings agency, Moody’s has changed its outlook on Icelandic creditworthiness from negative to stable.
Moody’s published its latest outlook for Iceland today, and rates the country’s creditworthiness as Baa3. The company says it made the change because of the recently completed IMF review which secures funds for Iceland and means the government will be able to continue its recovery package as planned.
National risk assessor at Moody’s, Kenneth Orchard, said that Iceland’s outlook was downgraded a few weeks ago because of doubt it could pay up its eurobonds due next year and at the beginning in 2012. With access to the IMF, Polish and Nordic loans, that risk has now been removed, Visir.is reports.
Tags: Agency Moody, Credit Rating, Creditworthiness, Doubt, Eurobonds, Iceland, Imf, International Ratings, Loans, National Risk, Orchard, Outlook Today, Risk Assessor
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Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Chairmen of the largest opposition parties in the Icelandic parliament are critical of the government’s declaration of intent to the IMF that the cost of the Icesave loans will be repaid in full, including “normal” interest.
Tags: Chairmen, Declaration Of Intent, Iceland, Imf, Loans, Opposition Parties, Parliament
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Friday, April 16th, 2010
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund has signed off on its second review of the Icelandic economic recovery package. The Icelandic authorities will now have access to ISK 105 billion (approx. USD 830 million) in foreign currency.
The IMF decided that the conditions placed on Iceland for the continuation of its recovery package have been met. With today’s IMF decision, Iceland will gain access to the equivalent of ISK 20 billion from the IMF and ISK 9 billion from Poland. The Nordic countries are expected to confirm their release of an additional ISK 76 billion shortly.
The funds are largely intended to support the Icelandic krona. This second review of the programme has been severely delayed just as the first one was. The still-unresolved Icesave dispute with the Netherlands and the UK was the main reason for both delays, RUV reports.
Tags: Authorities, Continuation, Economic Recovery, Foreign Currency, Iceland, Icelandic Krona, Imf, International Monetary Fund, Netherlands, Nordic Countries, Poland, Recovery Package
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Friday, April 16th, 2010
The executive board of the International Monetary Fund has approved the second review of its economic stabilization program for Iceland. Icelandic Finance Minister Steingrímur J. Sigfússon says this radically changes Iceland’s situation.
Tags: Economic Stabilization, Finance Minister, Iceland, Imf, International Monetary Fund, Stabilization Program
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Sunday, April 11th, 2010
Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson and Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir have both sent the nation’s condolences to Poland for the tragic loss of their president; but Icelandic Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson expressed the greatest personal sadness of all.
“This is awfully sad, and I am full of sympathy for the Polish nation in losing its president in this manner,” Ossur Skarphedinsson said on the death yesterday of Polish President Lech Kaczynski. 96 people are thought to have died in the plane crash yesterday in western Russia; among them the President and First Lady and many other top government officials including the head of the Polish military and the head of its central bank.
“I met the President several times and held two formal meetings with him. The first time was connected to the NATO summit in Strasbourg,” Skarphedinsson told Visir.is. “The second time I met with him along with the Icelandic president at the UN headquarters last September.”
The Icelandic FM told reporters that Kaczynski had been a controversial politician; but that his positive attitude towards Iceland had been almost unrivalled among heads of state. He apparently took a personal interest in Iceland and was always well-informed of current events.
“In September I discussed with him some very difficult issues, including the IMF and Icesave. He empathised with Iceland and understood our side well,” Skarphedinsson said.
The fact that Poland unilaterally decided to include itself in the Nordic loan package to Iceland came as a complete surprise and apparently had Kaczynski’s fingerprints all over it. “We in the Icelandic government first heard about the Polish loan through the foreign media,” Skarphedinsson admitted. It was also noted that Poland’s USD 200 million of the IMF-led loan package has never been tied to a resolution of the Icesave dispute.
Skarphedinsson also said that Kaczynski took a personal interest in the lives of Poles living in Iceland. He already knew that Polish people are the biggest foreign-born group in Iceland and had heard personal accounts of how welcome Poles had been made to feel in Iceland. He apparently thanked Skarphedinsson for Iceland’s positive treatment of its Polish minority at both official meetings and took pride in Skarphedinsson’s assertion that Poles had worked hard to make themselves an important part of Icelandic society.
“It is clear that Kaczynski was someone who really wanted to support us,” Skarphedinsson said.
The editors at IceNews would also like to offer their condolences to all Polish nationals living in the Nordic region.
Tags: Controversial Politician, Events In September, Fingerprints, Formal Meetings, Heartfelt Condolences, Icesave, Imf, Last September, Loan Package, Nato Summit, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Personal Interest, Plane Crash, Polish Nation, Polish President Lech, Positive Attitude, Ragnar, Tragic Loss, Usd 200, Western Russia
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Saturday, April 10th, 2010
An agreement has been reached on a letter of intent for the second review of the economic stabilization program for Iceland under Iceland’s stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund. The review is tentatively scheduled to be discussed by the IMF’s executive board on April 16.
Tags: Economic Stabilization, Iceland, Imf, International Monetary Fund, Letter Of Intent, Stabilization Program
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Friday, April 9th, 2010
Ministry of Finance press release: Agreement has been reached on a letter of intent for the second review under Iceland’s Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF. The review is tentatively scheduled to be discussed by the IMF’s Executive Board on April 16. Upon completion of the review, Iceland would become eligible to draw a third disbursement under the arrangement, in an amount of SDR 105 million (about USD 159 million).
Icelandic authorities have issued a Letter of Intent to the Fund that describes the progress made so far in limiting the impact of the crisis and setting the stage for a sustained recovery. The LoI will be made public after the Board approval.
In recent weeks, the authorities have been working on eliminating obstacles in the way of completing the second review of the Stand-By Arrangement, most recently with meetings of the Minister of Economic Affairs with the Fund’s Managing Director and Executive Directors in Washington on Wednesday.
Tags: Authorities, Board Approval, Disbursement, Economic Affairs, Executive Directors, Finance Press, Iceland, Imf, Letter Of Intent, Loi, Managing Director, Ministry Of Finance, Obstacles, Press Release, Release Agreement
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Monday, March 29th, 2010
It is considered likely that the board of the International Monetary Fund will review the economic stabilization program for Iceland next month regardless of the situation of Iceland’s dispute with the UK and the Netherlands on Icesave.
Tags: Economic Stabilization, Iceland, Icesave, Imf, International Monetary Fund, Netherlands, Stabilization Program
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Friday, March 26th, 2010
Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon is hoping that the International Monetary Fund’s second review of the economic stability program for Iceland will be completed in April. The Icesave talks will probably not resume until May.
Tags: April, Economic Stability Program, Iceland, Imf, International Monetary Fund, Minister Of Finance
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Monday, March 22nd, 2010
The finance committee of the Norwegian parliament has voted to loan funds to Iceland regardless of the ongoing Icesave dispute. It was the representatives of the Christian Democratic Party who pushed for the resolution.
The committee declared that Norway should loan Iceland money regardless of the ongoing Icesave dispute with Iceland on one side and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom on the other, ABC Nyheter reported.
The Norwegian Storting parliament will discuss the committee report tomorrow and it is thought highly likely that parliament will vote to approve the committee’s recommendation. The committee also stated its opinion that Iceland has the right to bring the Icesave dispute to an impartial international court; a move the Netherlands and the UK have opposed.
Representatives of all parties in the committee, except the Christian Democrats, made the qualification that Norwegian funds should be made available to Iceland only when the IMF review is compete and Iceland is seen to stand by its debts according to EU law.
Hans Olav Syversen of the Christian Democrats said it is clear that Norway is ready to lend to Iceland regardless of Icesave but that it is unclear what effect this will have on the IMF programme.
This news effectively means that Norway is exerting political pressure on the IMF to complete its held-up review of its Iceland recovery package – but it does not mean that Norway is about to break ranks with the IMF and loan funds unilaterally.
Tags: Abc, Break, Christian Democratic Party, Christian Democrats, Committee Report, Deadlock, Debts, Finance Committee, Iceland, Icesave, Imf, Loan Funds, Netherlands, Norway, Norwegian Parliament, Nyheter, Olav, Parliament, Report Tomorrow, Storting
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Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Central Bank of Iceland press release: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to lower Central Bank interest rates by 0.5 percentage points. The deposit rate (current account rate) will be lowered to 7.5%. The maximum bid rate for 28-day certificates of deposit (CDs) will be 8.75%. The seven-day collateral lending rate will be 9% and the overnight lending rate 10.5%.
Supporting an interest rate cut is the appreciation of the króna in trade-weighted terms since the last MPC meeting, despite the absence of Central Bank intervention in the FX market. This development, in an external environment of elevated sovereign risk premia and continued uncertainty about Iceland’s medium-term access to global financial markets, reflects the effectiveness of the capital controls and more favourable current account developments.
Inflation picked up in February, after a decline in December and January, to 7.3% year-on-year, or 5.9% excluding the impact of higher consumption taxes. The pick-up in inflation was broadly anticipated and does not fundamentally change the conclusion of the January forecast. Inflation is assumed to rise further year-on-year in March due to unfavourable base effects, but underlying inflation is still expected to reach the target late this year.
Elevated CDS spreads and a negative rating outlook associated with uncertainty about Iceland’s access to global financial markets support a relatively cautious move, due to potential negative pressure on the króna going forward. The delay in resolving the dispute over compensation of depositors in foreign branches of Landsbanki has triggered a sovereign credit rating downgrade to non-investment grade by one of the rating agencies and continues to delay the Second Review of the IMF programme and the associated financing. Given the continued effectiveness of the capital controls, this is not expected to have a substantial immediate effect on the exchange rate. However, in the absence of multilateral and bilateral financing or full access to international capital markets on acceptable terms, removal of capital controls or sizeable interest rate cuts would be risky until this matter is resolved.
If the króna remains stable or appreciates, and if inflation develops as forecast, there should be scope for continued gradual monetary easing. However, as long as there is significant uncertainty about Iceland’s future access to international capital markets, the MPC will have limited room for manoeuvre. As always, the MPC stands ready to adjust the monetary stance as required to achieve its interim objective of exchange rate stability and ensure that inflation is close to target over the medium term.
Tags: Account Developments, Bank Interest Rates, Bank Of Iceland, Central Bank Intervention, Central Bank Of Iceland, Certificates Of Deposit, Current Account, Depositors, External Environment, Fx Market, Global Financial Markets, Imf, Investment Grade, Landsbanki, Monetary Policy Committee, Mpc, Percentage Points, Risk Premia, Sovereign Risk, Target
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Thursday, March 11th, 2010
The Icesave dispute was discussed at the Dutch parliament yesterday, during which Minister of Finance Jan Kees de Jager indicated that the next step was in the hands of Iceland. Other parliamentarians called for blocking Iceland’s loan from the IMF.
Tags: Dutch Parliament, Iceland, Imf, Jager, Kees, Minister Of Finance, Parliament, Parliamentarians
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Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
It is self explanatory that there is not much sympathy worldwide for a country which first behaved irresponsibly and then tried to export its problems to other countries.
Like other countries which have run their economies into the ground – including Greece as a good example - Iceland must take responsibility for itself. So even if the Icelanders voted no and every last one of them had banged pots and pans in the streets of Reykjavik, the global community has to remain steadfast. If the Icelanders can not agree with the Dutch and the British about payment terms, then they naturally can not expect further loans from either the IMF, the Nordic countries or progression in the EU talks.
It must be noted for fairness sakes that the Icelanders have underlined that their position is not one of not paying, but about the details. And Netherlands and the UK have listened. When Iceland voted no anyhow, the two countries had already offered a better deal, which the Icelandic leadership had already rejected as not good enough. It does not bear witness of either humility or sense of reality.
From Denmark’s Berlingske Tidende (in Danish)
Berlingske noting that Icelanders seem to lack the understanding that actions have consequences.
Related posts:
- What Have You Done?
- It Came To The Point Where I Saw No Sense In Continuing To Pay
- A Farewell Letter – I am escaping to a different reality that is more FAIR to me
Tags: Berlingske Tidende, Consequences, Danish, Denmark, Different Reality, Fairness, Farewell Letter, Global Community, Greece, Humility, Imf, Netherlands, Nordic Countries, Pots And Pans, Pots Pans, Reykjavik, Sakes, Sense Of Reality, Sympathy, Witness
Posted in Iceland, Market | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
“I think what is happening in Iceland proves that our own currency is very beneficial to our needs. You don’t have to go far back to see that the currency developments have increased the competitiveness of Icelandic businesses and industries”.
- Steingrimur J. Sigfusson, Finance Minister of Iceland two years after an economic collapse all but wiped out the Icelandic financial sector after years of “hot money” flowing into the country because of exorbitant interest rates imposed to battle inflation.
He is crediting the arsonist for bringing a bucket of water to the fire.
What he is really celebrating is Iceland moving one step closer to the developing world and improving our “competitiveness” through a worthless currency. Never mind the comparative loss of wealth to citizens in the developed world.
A classic argument for not joining the EU and improving the livelyhood of Iceland’s citizens.
Related posts:
- Thanks A Bucket – But Stiglitz Wants IMF Out Of Iceland
- Finance minister wants to abolish price-indexation
- UK Crackpot: McDonald’s flight shows Iceland’s policy works
Tags: Arsonist, Bucket Of Water, Citizens, Competitiveness, Crackpot, Currency, Developing World, Economic Collapse, Exorbitant Interest Rates, Finance Minister, Financial Sector, Hot Money, Iceland, Imf, Indexation, Inflation, Livelyhood, Mcdonald, Stiglitz
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Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
The result of Iceland’s so-called Icesave referendum has no effect on the creditworthiness of the nation, at least not directly. This is the conclusion of the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s, which published its report yesterday.
The fact that the ‘no’ vote was so widely predicted means the outcome of the vote has had no effect on Iceland’s creditworthiness. Standard and Poor’s also makes special note in its report that the referendum rejected a proposed repayment plan from December; it did not reject repayment of Icesave deposits to the Netherlands and the UK altogether.
The report says Iceland’s sovereign credit rating will be revisited once it has become clear whether or not the referendum has had an effect on Iceland’s international IMF-led reconstruction package. The IMF’s latest review is due soon. There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Iceland’s rescue package while the Icesave issue goes unresolved.
Standard and Poor’s has already taken into account the fact that the Icesave issue could potentially remain unresolved for a long time due to upcoming elections in both the Netherlands and the UK; but believes, on the other hand, that the Icelandic government will not fall due to Icesave, RUV reports.
Tags: Conclusion, Credit Rating, Creditworthiness, Iceland, Imf, Led, Long Time, Netherlands, Reconstruction Package, Referendum, Repayment Plan, Standard And Poor, Uncertainty, Upcoming Elections, Vote
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Ossur Skarphedinsson, Icelandic Foreign Minister, has formally requested a meeting with his American counterpart, Hillary Clinton.
The reason for the proposed meeting is to request American assistance in removing the blocks put in place by British and Dutch representatives to the IMF with regard to Iceland’s stabilisation loan package.
Information about the requested meeting came from Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir in a parliamentary response to a question from Illugi Gunnarsson of the Independence Party.
The IMF review of its Iceland programme has been delayed already and it is thought the delays are directly linked to Icesave.
A confidential memo was leaked to the public last week from the American embassy in Reykjavik. The memo contained details of communications between members of Iceland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and officials at the embassy. The chief assistant to Foreign Minister Skarphedinsson is reported to have said that the USA cannot remain neutral by simply standing back and watching the British and Dutch bullying Iceland over Icesave, Visir.is reported.
Tags: American Assistance, American Counterpart, American Embassy, Chief Assistant, Confidential Memo, Foreign Minister, Gunnarsson, Hillary Clinton, Iceland, Icesave, Imf, Independence Party, Johanna, Loan Package, Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Ossur, Prime Minister, Regard, Reykjavik, Visir
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