Iceland votes not to hold referendum

Germany News.Net
Tuesday 9th March, 2010

Icelanders have voted overwhelmingly against a referendum to allow taxpayers money to be used to repay international debts.

The rejection means a $5.3 billion deal to repay debts to Britain and the Netherlands for their losses in the 2008 collapse of Iceland's private online bank, Icesave, will no longer go ahead.

More than 93 percent of eligible voters ensured a resounding negative ballot for compensating Britain and Holland.

To ensure the return of Icesave depositors in Holland and the UK, each Icelandic citizen would have had to commit around $135 a month for eight years to pay the money back.

About 340,000 citizens of Britain and Holland lost all the money they had in Icesave.

Iceland's finance minister, Steingrimur Sigfusson, has said Reykjavik will honour its financial obligations regardless of the poll's outcome.

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