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Iceland president promises to pay | Iceland president promises to pay |
(about 11 hours later) | |
Iceland's president has told the BBC's Newsnight programme that the country will pay its debts to the British and Dutch governments. | |
President Olafur Grimsson said that Iceland would "honour its obligations", arguing that a forthcoming referendum would not change that. | |
On Tuesday, the president called a public vote on a new bill committing Iceland to repaying $5bn (£3.1bn). | |
There has been significant opposition to the bill among Icelanders. | |
Opponents say the repayment plan could harm the Icelandic economy further, and force taxpayers to pay for bankers' mistakes. | |
The debt stems from the Icelandic banking crisis in 2008, when the UK and the Netherlands were forced to compensate savers with accounts in Icesave - a subsidiary of the collapsed Landsbanki bank. | |
Laws already in place | |
"The view which is being put forward that we will not honour our obligations is completely wrong," President Grimsson said. | |
He argued that legislation signed by him in September already ensured that Iceland would repay the money. | |
The Icesave bill has been the subject of protests in Iceland | |
"The law which I signed in September is based on the agreement that we have made with Britain and the Netherlands, where Iceland acknowledges its obligations," he added. | |
However, it is not clear that this earlier agreement will be acceptable to the UK government. | |
Unlike the later agreement it does not include a sovereign guarantee that the loan will be repaid in full. | |
Public vote | |
The referendum is currently scheduled for 20 February, according to draft legislation to be discussed by the Icelandic parliament on Friday. | |
President Grimsson said that it was his duty to ensure that the public will on the matter was followed. | |
The latest opinion polls suggest the referendum is not necessarily simply a rubber stamp to blocking the bill. | |
The latest opinion polls, quoted by the Reuters news agency, suggest a lessening of hostility. | The latest opinion polls, quoted by the Reuters news agency, suggest a lessening of hostility. |
Some 51%-58% are against, down from about 70% formerly. | |
A successful resolution to the dispute is essential if Iceland is to continue accessing the $7bn of financing from the International Monetary Fund and other Nordic countries - funds seen as crucial to its economic recovery plan. | |