Independence Party leader attacks government over rate rise

Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir, leader of Iceland’s Independence Party, has accused the government of being completely incapable of managing the economy following the Central Bank’s interest rate increase, mbl.is reports.

“These are bad news for Icelandic households and businesses. Once again, we see that a government elected solely on promises to bring down inflation and interest rates cannot handle the task,” Guðrún told mbl.is. She said the government was in complete disarray over economic affairs.

Guðrún said the government’s response showed that it was now trying to abandon the task it had taken on in the election and shift responsibility to Brussels.

She claimed the government’s only economic ideas were to raise taxes on families and businesses and seek shelter in Brussels through the euro.

Guðrún also questioned whether governing parties had ever responded with such apparent delight to an increase in policy rates affecting households and companies.

“The solutions to bringing down inflation and interest rates are not in Brussels,” she said, adding that the task had been taken on by the government of Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, which was unable to manage it.

“We cannot place Iceland’s most important interests in the hands of an incapable government that I do not believe should be given a mandate to negotiate Iceland’s entry into the European Union,” Guðrún said.