British Minister for Finance Alistair Darling is quoted in Financial Times this morning as being open to renegotiating the Icesave deal.
Although Darling stands firm that Iceland must repay the British government in full, he expressed willingness to be flexible regarding the interest rate on the loan, which was previously set to a permanent 5.5%.
The British Ministry for Finance is looking into two possible ways to adjust the interest rate. The first idea is to delay the interest for the first seven years, during which time Iceland will not pay off the loan. The second idea is to remove the condition of keeping a fixed interest rate for the entirety of the loan.
RÚV quotes Icelandic Minister for Foreign Afffairs Össur Skarphéðinsson as being optimistic about the new developments in reaching an acceptable agreement. Skarphéðinsson said he expects to know more about the new terms in the next few days, and that the national referendum will still be held as planned on March 6, according to Rúv.
As previously reported (see for instance here and here), the Icelandic government is currently attempting to renegotiate the terms of Icesave with the British and Dutch governments.
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