MP says workers are pawns of financial forces

Ásthildur Lóa Þórsdóttir, an MP for the People’s Party, sharply criticised Iceland’s Central Bank leadership in a speech to parliament on Wednesday, accusing them of failing to understand ordinary people’s circumstances, mbl.is reported.

Her criticism followed comments last week by Þórarinn G. Pétursson, the bank’s deputy governor for monetary policy. He said the bank had believed it could create economic conditions in which rising unemployment would reduce support for ending collective agreements.

“These cold-hearted comments from one of the country’s most influential officials suggest that working people are pawns on the chessboard of financial forces,” Ásthildur Lóa said.

She said she had repeatedly criticised the bank and its leadership and was deeply dissatisfied with what she called its obsession with raising interest rates. She argued that the bank’s high-interest-rate policy hit people with lower incomes hardest and had pushed thousands of households into inflation-indexed loans, despite the central bank governor saying he opposed them.

“It is long past time to try other approaches than continual interest-rate rises, which hit hardest those who owe the most and own the least,” she said. She ended by asking whether it was time to reconsider the Central Bank’s powers and influence in Icelandic society.