Progressive Party leader calls for national agreement on economy

Stefán Vagn Stefánsson, chairman of the Progressive Party’s parliamentary group, said the government had failed to meet its main economic objectives, according to mbl.is. He made the remarks in Parliament during a debate on the prime minister’s policy address.

Stefánsson said the government had made numerous promises before the last election, but that most of them had aged badly.

“The plan was to drive down interest rates and inflation with the famous sledgehammer. But inflation is rising, inflation expectations remain very high and increased after the government presented its budget. And interest rates, Mr Speaker, interest rates have risen, risen and risen, and now stand at 8%,” he said.

He said the government’s budget bill followed the same approach as before and would not help in the fight against interest rates and inflation. He criticised plans to raise taxes and fees by considerably more than the Central Bank of Iceland’s inflation target, an approach he said had been criticised in Parliament, by businesses and by trade unions.

Tax increases of more than 30 billion

Stefánsson also raised concerns about other increases, including a kilometre charge and an increase affecting the tourism industry.

“A total tax increase of just over 30 billion Icelandic krónur is proposed in next year’s budget. Where does the government think these increases will go other than into prices, ultimately ending up on the tables of households and companies across the country?” he said.

Turning to European affairs, Stefánsson said Parliament’s next task should be to formally withdraw Iceland’s application for membership of the European Union.

He said it was time for a national agreement and that the Progressive Party was ready to cooperate during the winter. The party had submitted economic proposals and would continue to do so, he said.

“The time spent arguing over membership negotiations with the European Union is over. The tasks of the winter now lie ahead: healthcare that needs strengthening, families that need more room to manoeuvre, companies that need to be able to invest and move forward, and education that needs to be addressed decisively,” Stefánsson said.