[forwarded for Joonas Laine] Icelanders are angry but will make sacrifices By Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir Published: August 13 2009 18:53 | Last updated: August 13 2009 18:53 <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/73bd25fc-8830-11de-82e4-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=a36d4c40-fb42-11dc-8c3e-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1>
[..] My government, which took over in February and gained a majority in general elections in May, has to deal with the aftermath of the fall of nearly all of Iceland's privatised banking sector. We plan a 30 per cent contraction in government finances over the next three years, with extensive cuts to infrastructure spending and wages - a heavy burden for our population of 300,000. We have, in co-operation with the International Monetary Fund, formulated an economic strategy that is being fully adhered to. Indeed, we have already reached agreements on a recapitalisation of the banking sector, a stability pact with social partners and a strategy for lifting current account restrictions. [..] Icelanders, who do not feel responsible for the global banking crisis, are willing to make sacrifices to secure normal relations and trade with the world. But they are angry at having to take on the burden of compensation for the Icesave savings accounts of Landsbanki - failed, privately owned, commercial bank, which attracted hundreds of thousands of UK and Dutch savers with high interest rates. The amount to be shouldered by Iceland is huge - bout 50 per cent of our gross domestic product. Assets against this debt will substantially lower the net amount, but there is much uncertainty about the valuations and forecasts underpinning such calculations. ..... Thousands Protest Icesave Deal at Iceland's Parliament 14/08/2009 | 11:15 <http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=28304&ew_0_a_id=337787> An estimated number of 3,000 people [of a population of 320 000 -JL] gathered in front of the Althingi parliament at Austurvöllur square in central Reykjavík yesterday to protest the Icesave agreement in its current form, urging MPs not to approve it. The demonstration was organized by the Indefence group, which earlier ran the campaign 'Icelanders are not terrorists,' n response to the UK government's use of the anti-terrorism legislation to freeze Icelandic assets in the UK. We are satisfied with the meeting. It is important that the nation stands together, Ólafur Elíasson, one of Indefences spokespersons, told Fréttabladid. The group described yesterdays event as a meeting for people to show solidarity. The Indefence group is now preparing to bring its cause to the attention of foreign media. 'We were half promised that if the meeting would be big then we would get to write and translate articles for foreign newspapers, ' Elíasson said. Some MPs and other well-known people attended the demonstration yesterday, among them former Prime Minister and Central Bank governor Davíd Oddsson. According to Fréttabladids sources, a cross-political agreement on the government's Icesave proposition is unlikely after the parliament's Economic and Tax Committee's meeting ended in disagreement last night. The proposition includes state guarantee on loans from the UK and the Netherlands to the Icelandic Depositors' and Investors' arantee Fund so that Iceland can compensate Landsbanki's Icesave account holders in these countries. The committee assembled five times yesterday and Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon joined its members in a meeting after midnight last night, Morgunbladid reports. The opposition parties want to include a disclaimer in the agreement that no payments are made to the UK and the Netherlands if there is no economic growth in Iceland. They also want to limit annual payments to 2.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), while the government parties have suggested 3.5 percent. Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir said yesterday that she hoped a solution could be reached on disclaimers that could fit within the current Icesave agreement, while, according to Fréttabladid, the opposition wants a new agreement altogether. ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
