Icesave deal reached, still needs parliamentary approval

Iceland, the Netherlands and Britain have worked out a deal for the repayment of €3.8bn lent to the island nation to repay savers who lost cash when internet bank Icesave collapsed.


Under the terms of the agreement, Iceland will pay the Netherlands 3% interest on the loan. Britain will get 3.3% because costs are higher.
The payback will begin in July 2016 and end in 2046. The annual amount will be no more than 5% of Icelandic GDP over the previous year.
An earlier deal, with a shorter repayment time and higher interest rate was rejected in a referendum in March.
Parliament

The new deal, reached after nearly two years of diplomatic efforts, has been signed by the Icelandic government and opposition parties as well as representatives of the Netherlands and Britain, according to Nos tv.
‘If (the Icelandic) parliament approves the agreement and the law, and Iceland’s president will sign it, the Icelandic government will get the mandate to finalise the agreement,’ the Dutch finance ministry said in a statement.
Big savers
But a group of 250 savers who had more than the guaranteed €100,000 in Icesave say they have been left in the lurch.
They accuse finance minister Jan Kees de Jager of discriminating against them. The minister should have pressured for them to be repaid in return for a lower interest rate, the organisation is quoted as saying.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation