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Iceland to pay back Icesave cash
AFP - Saturday, August 29
REYKJAVIK (AFP) - - Iceland's parliament on Friday approved a controversial deal to pay back billions of euros (dollars) lost by British and Dutch savers in the collapse of the online Icesave bank.
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The deal provides for the payment of 3.8 billion euros by 2023 to the British and Dutch governments for the compensation they forked out to disgruntled savers.
In Parliament, 34 MPs voted in favour of the accord, while 14 opposed it and 14 abstained. One deputy was not present for the vote.
Icesave, an online subsidiary of the Landsbanki bank which had to be rescued in October 2008, attracted over 320,000 British and Dutch savers due to its high interest rates.
But they lost their savings when accounts were frozen during last year's credit crunch.
The British and Dutch savers were partially compensated by their own governments, which then turned to Reykjavik looking for the money paid out.
Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir welcomed the Althing's, or parliament's, decision.
"This is one of the largest financial and economic issues ever faced by Iceland and it has greatly preoccupied the Althing and the people since the collapse of the banking system last autumn," she said.
"The guarantee of the combined loans from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands constitutes the single largest financial commitment ever undertaken by the government of Iceland," she said.
Sigurdardottir in early June reached agreement with the British and Dutch governments on the compensation plan but it required approval by parliament.
The debate had dragged for weeks as the general public largely opposed the deal amid fears it would plunge crisis-ridden Iceland into poverty for several decades.
Sigurdardottir finally won the approval of most MPs following amendments that restrict payments to a percentage of economic growth and assurances that Iceland's natural resources cannot be used as collateral.
Iceland, until recently one of the wealthiest countries in the OECD, experienced a decade of economic prosperity based on its aggressive banking sector.
But late last year, its key lending institutions were laid low by the global finance meltdown, pushing the economy to the verge of collapse.
In October 2008, the government had to take control of the country's three leading banks as thousands of people lost their jobs and their savings in the crisis.
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The logo of Icesave, the online British arm of Iceland's second biggest bank, Landsbanki. Iceland's parliament on Friday approved a controversial deal to pay back billions of euros (dollars) lost by British and Dutch savers in the collapse of the online Icesave bank.
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