REYKJAVIK - ICELAND'S biggest bank Kaupthing has received a 500-million-euro (S$992-million) loan from the central bank, it said on Tuesday as the country's financial sector tottered on the verge of collapse.
'The central bank of Iceland has provided Kaupthing with a 500-million-euro loan to facilitate operations, and Kaupthing is committed to working with the government to ensure regular workings of the Icelandic financial system,' the bank said in a statement.
Russia will give Iceland loan
REYKJAVIK - ICELAND'S central bank said Russia will give a 4 billion euro (S$7.9 billion) loan to bolster its foreign exchange reserves.
Iceland's government is trying to wrest control of the increasingly dire situation and restore some confidence in the country's hard-hit banking sector. The move comes a day after trading in shares of major banks was suspended. The Icelandic krona fell a quarter against the euro.
STOCKHOLM/REYKJAVIK - ICELAND'S central
bank said on Tuesday it would peg the island?s crown to a basket of currencies at a level of 131 per euro effective immediately, confirming earlier reports.
'The Central Bank of Iceland has decided to peg the crown to a basket of currencies at the level of 131 to the euro,' Sedlabanki spokesman Stefan Stefansson told Reuters.
The IFSA stressed that a complete guarantee for all domestic accounts announced by the government in Reykjavik Monday would cover Landsbanki's customers.
'Landsbanki's domestic branches, call centres, cash machines and Internet operations will be open for business as usual,' it said.
'The action taken by the IFSA is a necessary first step in achieving the objectives of the Icelandic government and parliament to ensure the continued orderly operation of domestic banking and the safety of domestic deposits,' it added.
However, the British arm of Iceland's Landsbanki stopped British customers withdrawing or depositing money on Tuesday, it announced.
The IFSA announcement came a week after the Icelandic government said it would take control of 75 per cent of the country's third largest bank, Glitnir, and a day after Prime Minister Geir Haarde said his government was ready to take control of all the island's banks to ward off the prospect of national bankruptcy. -- AFP
