British and Dutch authorities have offered lowered interest rates on the Icesave deal. Icelandic party chairmen will be meeting today, and could respond today or tomorrow. The Prime Minister hopes the referendum can be avoided.
Up until this point, the Icesave deal stipulated an interest rate of 5.5%. After this deal was approved by parliament but then subsequently vetoed by the president, Iceland made a counter-offer: no interest on re-payment, at all, but re-payment over a faster time frame. The British and Dutch responded, offering instead a lowered interest rate.
Party chairmen met yesterday on the matter, and were not able to reach an agreement on their response. They are expected to meet again today, and could respond to the offer either today or tomorrow.
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir told reporters that she hopes the government will be able to reach an agreement with British and Dutch authorities before the national referendum on the current law, scheduled to take place 6 March, occurs.