Finnbjörn says all must join effort to curb inflation

Finnbjörn A. Hermannsson, president of the Icelandic Confederation of Labour, said the Central Bank’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged was in line with his expectations, mbl.is reported.

The Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee announced on Wednesday that its key rate would remain at 8%. The committee raised the rate by 0.25 percentage points in August, May and March, after leaving it unchanged in February.

Finnbjörn said he believed inflation was finally starting to fall and urged the committee to lower rates quickly, warning against increasing the real interest rate.

He said reports that a broad coalition of unions was ready to extend collective agreements with the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise had added to his optimism. Companies, municipalities and the state must now follow through on commitments to restrain fee increases, he said.

“There will be no national consensus until everyone takes part,” Finnbjörn said, adding that action to bring inflation down was the top priority.