American business magazine Fortune covers the collapse of the Icelandic economy in its latest issue, in which Central Bank governor and chairman Davíd Oddsson is said to have played a significant part.
According to Fréttabladid, Fortune describes how Oddsson, as former prime minister, almost single-handedly changed Iceland from one of the poorest countries in the world to the wealthiest.
But this year Oddsson is said to have made a series of mistakes. Based on information from Icelandic officials and persons of authority in foreign central banks, Fortune concludes that when trying to secure financial assistance for Iceland, Oddsson had written short notes to foreign central banks that were not interpreted as requests for loans.
Following the declaration of the state’s acquisition of a 75 percent stake in Glitnir Bank in September, Oddsson behaved in an unpredictable manner, which Fortune concludes brought the other banks to bankruptcy and worsened Iceland’s economic situation further as well as straining diplomatic relations with other countries.
