Word: krona
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...investors began to worry that Icelandic banks had leveraged themselves too aggressively. Rumors swirled that the banks would default and that Iceland's central bank, with its modest $2.5 billion reserve, would be hard-pressed to bail them out. As investors pulled out of the market, the Icelandic krona fell by 27% against the U.S. dollar, the cost of insuring Icelandic debt soared to record levels, and inflation surged, hitting a 20-year high of 12.3% in recent days. That bleak combination has created a widespread perception, trumpeted in the world's financial press, that Iceland is melting...
...Commerce. Instead, he peers out at a $138 million construction project at the University of Reykjavik. Iceland, he points out, has been in this situation before. In early 2006, credit agencies criticized Icelandic banks for their lack of transparency and reliance on international capital markets. Analysts' opprobrium drove the krona down by 25% against the dollar over six months. Yet Iceland never defaulted on a single loan, signaling a disconnect between foreign perception and domestic reality. "We learned our lesson: we need to tell our story," says Árni Mathiesen, Iceland's Minister of Finance. "Other people are more likely...
...highest ratio of any country in the world. Meanwhile, their dependence on global capital markets to fund this shopping spree left the banks vulnerable to the whims of investors. By early 2008, the combination of a risk-averse global financial climate and possible speculative attacks on the krona meant that Iceland could no longer run itself like a hedge fund. Says Paul Rawkins, an analyst at Fitch Ratings: "The global credit crunch undermined their business model...
...reported strong core earnings, with Landsbanki's rising by 27% compared to the same period last year. On May 16, in a show of support, the central banks of Denmark, Norway and Sweden offered to loan Iceland $2.4 billion in emergency credit, doubling the nation's reserves; the krona immediately gained 5% against the euro. Iceland's central bank asked parliament on May 28 to let it borrow up to $6.9 billion so it can better protect the country's currency and banking system...
Despite these strong fundamentals, Iceland has undoubtedly lost some steam - and importers feel it the worst. Úlfar Steindórsson, CEO of Toyota Iceland, says that the depreciated krona raised the price of imported cars by 25% in just a matter of weeks, bringing his booming sales to a standstill. He now predicts year-on-year revenues will end 30% lower. But Steindórsson doesn't blame the government or Iceland's banks. "The crisis didn't start in Iceland - it started in the U.S.," he says. As he sees it, the international dimension of the credit crunch...