Norway expressed Friday its support for Iceland, saying it would honour its loans to the country and urging the International Monetary Fund to do the same despite the row over the Icesave bank collapse.
Norway expressed Friday its support for Iceland, saying it would honour its loans to the country and urging the International Monetary Fund to do the same despite the row over the Icesave bank collapse.
"As long as Iceland honours its commitments and continues its (economic stability) programme (agreed with the IMF in exchange for a rescue loan package), the Norwegian position is that we should do the same," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told reporters.
"And the Nordic countries should tell the IMF that the programme ought to continue as planned," he said following a meeting with Icelandic Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson.
Iceland's Nordic neighbours Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway in July signed loan agreements of 1.78 billion euros with payouts dependent on the country's economic progress, in addition to the IMF's 2.1-billion-dollar rescue package.
A first instalment of 300 million euros was paid out in mid-December from the Nordic loan, of which Norway's overall share is 480 million euros.
Iceland's international loans were thrown into doubt after President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson decided Tuesday not to sign a bill that would have paid London and The Hague 3.8 billion euros (5.4 billion dollars) for compensation they paid out to some 300,000 British and Dutch savers who lost their savings when Icesave collapsed in Iceland's October 2008 economic crisis.
Norway expresses support for Iceland in Icesave affair - Latest news around the world and developments close to home - MSN Malaysia News
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