No danger of fall in ISK
Bjarni Benediktsson, Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs. Photo: Kristinn Ingvarsson
“Currency restrictions will be lifted in a way which avoids any risk of a falling ISK exchange rate. The basis for all our work towards lifting restrictions is to eliminate any such danger,” stated Icelandic Finance Minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, in the Icelandic Parliament (‘Alþingi’) this morning.
The remarks were in response to a question from Katrín Júlíusdóttir, MP for the centre-left Social Democratic Alliance. Júlíusdóttir asked what the government intended to do to protect households from any possible negative consequences of lifting restrictions.
Both Benediktsson and the Icelandic Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, are confident that initial measures to lift the currency restrictions in place in Iceland since 2008 can be launched this year.
“This is why things have taken this long. We will not contemplate any form of lifting restrictions which may lead to a fall in the ISK exchange rate,” Benediktsson clarified.
