The action plan is a comprehensive solution based on transparency and recognised methodology.

Elsa Lára Arnardóttir, member of parliament, reviewed several points in the work of the assembly yesterday concerning news coverage that has emerged regarding capital controls.

“The lifting of capital controls should not affect the exchange rate of the Icelandic króna” is the headline of a news article that appeared in the news yesterday. In the article, Þorsteinn Víglundsson, Executive Director of the Confederation of Icelandic Employers, and Gylfi Arnbjörnsson, President of ASÍ, stated that it should be possible to lift the controls without affecting the exchange rate of the króna. They believe that the plan introduced by the government of Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson recently will strengthen newly made wage agreements and maintain stability. It is evident here that the government's action plan for lifting controls is a comprehensive solution built on transparency and recognized methodology. There is now a halt to all indulgence for the claimants, and finally, the interests of the public are prioritised,” said Elsa Lára.

“I would also like to quote the words of Sigurður Hannesson, who stated in an article published this morning that the claim of the opposition that the action plan for lifting controls is based on a plan made in 2011 is simply not true at all. The fact is that the previous government's lifting plan did not include winding-up estates, either they forgot the claimants or thought that it would be possible to use the indebted foreign exchange reserves to pay them out, as some of them suggested. The action plan of Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson's government addresses the 1,200 billion problem, of which the winding-up estates amount to 900 billion. Therefore, the overall solution lies in addressing the winding-up estates,” said Elsa Lára.

Speech by Elsa Lára Arnardóttir: