Joint press release from the Central Bank of Iceland and the Russian Ministry of Finance
A delegation from the Central Bank of Iceland and the Icelandic Ministry of Finance visited Moscow on October 14 and 15, 2008, to conduct the first set of meetings with the representatives of the Russian Ministry of Finance to discuss a potential loan from the Russian Federation to the Republic of Iceland which could help the Icelandic Republic to resolve its foreign liquidity issues.
The Russian delegation was headed by Mr. Dimitry Pankin, Deputy Minister of Finance and the Icelandic delegation was headed by Mr. Sturla Pálsson, Director of International and Market Operations of the Central Bank of Iceland.
The discussions in Moscow centred on exchange of information between the parties, the analysis of the current situation in the financial markets and the Icelandic situation in particular. The parties have agreed to continue their discussions.
Mr. Pankin stated: “The meetings were held in a very friendly manner and we have learned a lot about the current situation in Iceland, the banking system and the Icelandic economy. We are working from our end on further exploration of the issues before we can reach a final decision.”
Mr. Pálsson stated: “We are very pleased with our progress and appreciate the swiftness with which our Russian counterparts agreed to meet and discuss the potential loan. We are presenting our business case to our counterparts since we continue to believe that the fundamentals of the Icelandic economy are strong and that we will weather the current storm in the financial markets.”
No. 38/2008
October 15, 2008