“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 [...]

The Central Bank of Iceland has decided not to change its interest rates which are currently 12%. Olafur Isleifsson, lektor at the University of Iceland was quoted yesterday as saying that “it is hard to see a constructive reason behind the bank’s high rates”. As the nooze tightens, Icelandic businesses and individuals keep asking themselves what is [...]

Pity the poor billionaires. Leper-like in public, either shunned or met with aggrivation, since the economic crash there have been several instances of red paint being splattered on the houses of the masters of the disaster. It is a bit crude and not very imaginative so a friend has thought of a better idea. Since they’ve taken [...]

“The rebuilding of the banks must be an absolute priority. For the business sector to work, it must be supported by banks that work. But it will be expensive. I don’t think Icelanders realize how expensive that is going to be, around 85% of gross national product. “ Mats Josefsson to Swedish newspaper Uppsala Nya Tidning Josefsson who [...]

Iceland’s highly indebted banking sector collapsed in October, taking with it the wider economy and the crown currency. – Iceland attempted to introduce a currency peg — which survived less than a day — before imposing stringent capital controls restricting foreign exchange purchases to those for essential items such as food, fuel and medicine. – The toughest [...]

For foreigners wishing to understand more about the perils of the Icelandic situation, these four opinion columns that have appeared in Frettabladid in the last few weeks are a must read.  1) The Economics of the Devil Published in Frettabladid on April 15 by Gunnar Tomasson, economist Inflation depreaciates the real value of money and that is why [...]

There are still plenty of people who think that the adoption of the Euro is something Icelanders have a choice in.  But that would imply that there are still reasonable alternatives out there. Talks of the USD are unfavorable in the context of Icelandic trade vs. the trade it has with the European Union and the [...]

Today’s Central Bank of Iceland selling rate is 168.09 krónur per euro, down 12% since 1 February. On the other hand, if you look at Yahoo! Finance, they quote a rate of 290.66 krónur per euro… The European Central Bank hasn’t quoted a ISK exchange rate since 3 December, when it was 290 krónur to [...]