Iceland Will Lift Remaining Capital Controls in Place Since 2008 Crash -<br />By REUTERSMARCH 12, 2017<br />STOCKHOLM — Iceland’s finance ministry said on Sunday<br />that in the coming week it would lift the remaining capital controls that have been in place since the financial crisis in 2008, easing restrictions on households and businesses.<br />Iceland’s central bank said in a separate statement<br />that it had entered an agreement to purchase offshore assets for close to 90 billion Icelandic krona (about $836 million) at an exchange rate of 137.5 krona per euro.<br />The ministry said it had also adjusted regulations<br />and introduced special reserve requirements for new foreign currency inflows to prevent a repeat of “hot money” — a term referring to funds in search of short-term returns — destabilizing the financial system.<br />“The removal of the capital controls, which stabilized the currency<br />and economy during the country’s unprecedented financial crash, represents the completion of Iceland’s return to international financial markets,” the ministry said in a statement.<br />The central bank said that remaining offshore krona holders would be invited to sell<br />their assets to the central bank at the same exchange rate over the next two weeks.
