2008-11-18 09 h 15 :: google.com :: Icelandic premier says country will overcome crisis in 2010

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iOuL5rSikR_ufGTaDaT6_viOIanQ

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fhostednews%2Fafp%2Farticle%2FALeqM5iOuL5rSikR_ufGTaDaT6_viOIanQ&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&sl=en&tl=fr

Icelandic premier says country will overcome crisis in 2010

9h15

FRANKFURT (AFP) — Iceland, hit hard by the international financial crisis, will be back on its feet in 2010, Prime Minister Geir Haarde was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

"With help from the International Monetary Fund, we will be able to quickly put this difficult period behind us," Haarde told the German business daily Handelsblatt. "We will be back in 2010."

Haarde added that he expected the IMF's approval "very quickly" for a credit of two billion dollars (1.58 billion euros).

"It is a question of days," the Icelandic premier said.

Nordic countries would also establish a fund to support the North Atlantic island nation, he added.

Haarde sought meanwhile to reassure 30,000 German clients of the Kaupthing bank, where accounts were frozen on October 9.

"They should worry less than a few weeks ago," he said.

A German finance ministry spokesman said German account holders should recuperate up to 20,900 euros (26,380 dollars) each.

The Icelandic economy, which is highly dependent on the country's financial system, was knocked flat by the international crisis.

The three biggest banks were nationalised in early October, and the debacle could cost up to an estimated 85 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).