“404 – Page Not Found”

Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir, chair of the Independence Party, sharply criticized the government's four-year financial plan in a recent parliamentary speech. She claimed the plan lacked credibility and was based on unrealistic assumptions.

She referenced the opinion of the Fiscal Council, which stated that a pessimistic outlook is more likely under current economic conditions, both domestically and globally, than the optimistic assumptions on which the government has based its plan.

In her speech on Friday, Hafsteinsdóttir also criticized the absence of provisions for debt reduction despite discussions about it in the plan.

She highlighted that the plan emphasizes the need to account for potential external shocks and to maintain flexibility to respond to them.

“However, not a single word is dedicated to the prioritization of funds for debt repayment. The flexibility to increase borrowing has been crucial in dealing with past crises. This raises the question: why is there no emphasis on debt reduction, and why has the debt reduction rule been abandoned in favor of a vague explanatory text instead of a legally mandated reduction?” Hafsteinsdóttir asked.

Criticizes government MPs’ attendance

Hafsteinsdóttir opened and closed her speech by criticizing the absence of government MPs and those responsible for the financial plan.

“What do I see in this chamber today? Just a handful of government MPs. One would have thought they would be here to participate in the discussion of their first financial plan,” she said.

“And what might explain their absence? Perhaps it has become apparent that the grand promises made during the election campaign were empty? Their absence severely undermines the credibility of the financial plan.”

She concluded by further criticizing the lack of participation:

“The Finance Minister is not here, the chair of the Budget Committee is not here, and neither is the main speaker for the case,” said Guðrún. She then urged both the government and the majority to attend and engage in discussions about the plan.

Page not found

Hafsteinsdóttir said the government made lofty promises about streamlining in the financial plan, but the implementation is nowhere to be found.

“There were promises of efficiency and restraint, which have not been detailed despite an extensive media display of early reforms. Over the financial plan’s period, 107 billion ISK in unspecified cuts are assumed—despite claims on page 23 that there are no unspecified cuts,” she stated.

She also mentioned the government’s planned online performance dashboard, which was meant to display goals and indicators for each policy area during the plan period.

“It’s interesting to go on the Government Offices’ website and try to find this performance dashboard. It’s supposed to show targets and metrics for the 2026–2030 financial plan. But as of today, July 4, it simply says, and I quote: ‘404 – The page you were looking for could not be found.’”

She added:

“Let’s hope this is just a technical error, rather than an indication that the data isn’t ready. But there’s little to suggest this is just a glitch.”

Lack of vision for the future

At the end of her speech, Hafsteinsdóttir criticized the government for focusing on taxation rather than value creation.

“We’re seeing tax hikes on tourism, fisheries, aquaculture, increased carbon taxes, an inefficient mileage tax, joint taxation for couples—and the list goes on.”

“What’s missing, however, is a clear strategy to strengthen the economy’s growth potential—how to encourage innovation, increase productivity, and create real value.”