RVK Newscast 191: Whaling, New Icelanders And Inflation

Looking sharp, chief! For today’s RVK Newscast, Valur Grettisson, editor-in-chief of The Reykjavík Grapevine, is at Rakarastofa Ragnars & Harðar for a fresh cut—as well as to go over the freshest Icelandic news. Read on for more info and links.

Preorder your copy of Dagatal from The Reykjavík Grapevine’s shop now! The book features around 100 short and accessible stories about customs and traditions in Iceland, written especially for readers learning Icelandic as a second language. Get it here.

64.3% of Icelanders believe that hunting whales damages Iceland’s reputation according to a poll that Fréttablaðið reported today. Only 6.1% of Icelanders polled think it’s actually good for our reputation.

12 people have been awarded citizenship, among them American musician, John Grant, through applying directly to the Icelandic parliament. There were 71 applications in total. The Althingi application system is controversial and has been criticised for being exclusive and unjust.

Inflation is expected to be reach 8.7 % in June. Policy interest rates will probably be raised by 0.75% to 4.5%— the same as in 2019. The central bank has also lowered the loan ratio for first buyers from 90% down to 85% to cool off the real estate market that has been spinning out of control in past 12 months.

Who better to ask about what is best in Reykjavík than the people who live there? Every year we round up a panel of experts and enthusiasts to pick the best restaurant, best bar, best café, best gallery, best music venue, best…everything. The result is Best Of Reykjavík, and you can purchase it online now.

To celebrate the publication of Best Of Reykjavík 2022, we are putting a free copy into EVERY box we have in the Store for a limited time! Find them all here.

The Newscast is made possible with the help of our friends at Einstök Beer.

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