Alex Jurshevski, of the company Recovery Partners, spoke very frankly on the news discussion show Silfur Egils yesterday, saying Iceland is making a big mistake in taking out foreign loans to pay down its debt.
Jurshevski said that taking out such loans will only prolong the economic situation here; not resolve it, calling loans from foreign countries “the kiss of death”.
He pointed to his work with New Zealand. There, he said, the government understood that the most important thing for them to do was to make budget cuts and pay down their debts. This, he said, is something Icelandic politicians don’t yet understand, as they seem to believe the answer to paying down loans is to take out more loans.
Jurshevski recommends that a debt supervisory commission, which has never been established in Iceland, be created at once. He added that he’d be more than happy to work here in that capacity, and additionally, is interested in investing in the country.