Iceland CB keeps rates unchanged

Iceland’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged at 5.75 per cent on Wednesday and said it expected to have to tighten policy in the near future as its economy recovers. “As spare capacity disappears from the economy, it is necessary that monetary policy slack should disappear as well,” the Reykjavik-based bank said in a statement. The bank said in its statement after keeping rates unchanged that recent indicators suggested a slower recovery of domestic demand than was forecast in August. But it said risks to the economy from the financial crisis in Europe had abated. It said the pace of policy tightening would depend on inflation. “... but in the absence of changes in the outlook for inflation and the economic recovery, it is likely that further interest rate increases will be needed in the near future,” it said. The country with a population of just 320,000 has faced inflation pressures stemming from a weakening currency after its banking sector collapsed during the financial crisis that began in 2008, which also forced it to seek billions of dollars in bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund and others. The Icelandic krona is still not freely traded and the country still has capital controls in place to prevent excessive outflows. From gulftoday