The Icelandic government is now pressing the governments of the Nordic countries to announce whether they are willing to grant Iceland loans despite the Icelandic president’s decision to veto the Icesave legislation on January 5, according to Fréttabladid’s sources from the cabinet.
The president announces his decision. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Norwegian authorities have seemed the most willing of the Nordic countries to continue to disburse loans to Iceland in spite of the veto. The government of Sweden is against it and the governments of Denmark and Finland are indecisive, Fréttabladid reports.
The Nordic countries are part of the International Monetary Fund’s bailout package for Iceland. The IMF was supposed to review the economic stabilization program for Iceland shortly, but it will now be postponed because of how matters have developed.
Prime Minister of Iceland Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir said last week that she is optimistic negotiations on Icesave with British and Dutch authorities can be resumed, which would replace the upcoming referendum on the Icesave legislation of December 30.
However, she has not explained why she is optimistic. Her colleagues told Fréttabladid that they assume the PM was referring to increased hope of a cross-political agreement in Iceland on how to move forward, which would make it easier to convince the British and Dutch governments to go back to the negotiating table.
The leaders of Iceland’s political parties met last week to discuss a joint solution but no meetings were held last weekend.
Progressive Party MP Siv Fridleifsdóttir said on radio station Bylgjan yesterday that “a much better agreement” would be needed before all political parties could reconcile.
Click here to read more about Icesave.
