Icelandic hopes for IMF loan rise

Iceland’s loan from the International Monetary Fund will be completed this Wednesday, the head of the IMF said on Saturday in Washington, Bloomberg reported.

The IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said at a press conference after G-20 talks in Washington that they have an agreement now and that the programme with Iceland will be completed next Wednesday at the board meeting of the IMF.

Strauss-Kahn didn’t however speak about the amount of financial help or the conditions. In October the talk was of a USD 2.1 billion IMF loan.

The discussions about the loan have been delayed for weeks even though IMF representatives stressed the importance of immediate and urgent steps that should be taken to strengthen the Icelandic economy. Read the coverage on October IMF talks in Iceland here.

The Icelandic government is considering measures that should be taken to solve the disputes with the UK and the Netherlands, which escalated last week and were a reason for the IMF board interrupting the discussions for passing the loan.

Icelandic officials are now striving to resurrect the Icelandic krona currency through daily auctions with local banks.

icenews.is