Seminar on the impact of interest rates on people and businesses
For almost four years, interest rates have been very high in Iceland. The aim of the high-interest-rate policy has been to reduce inflation and bring it down to the Central Bank of Iceland’s 2.5% inflation target. Despite persistently high interest rates, this has not been achieved, and inflation has been rising over the past year. High interest rates have wide-ranging effects on both people and businesses. They hit people with housing debt, tenants and families with children the hardest and mean that trade unions need to seek further wage increases to offset employees’ excessive housing costs. They cause unemployment and stand in the way of housing development and important business investment. It is therefore timely to stop and consider whether the high-interest-rate policy is serving its intended purpose.
VR, LÍV and Fagfélögin invite you to an open meeting on the interaction between policy interest rates and inflation. The keynote speaker is Jaya Sood, an economist at the New Economics Foundation in the UK, who will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of interest rates as a tool for bringing inflation under control. Sood’s presentation will be followed by a discussion.
The meeting will be held on Wednesday, 19 August, from 11:00 to 12:30 at the VR headquarters at Kringlan 7 (9th floor), and will be conducted in English and Icelandic. Interpretation will be provided. Doors open at 10:30, with light refreshments.
The meeting is open to everyone, registration below.
Programme:
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Halla Gunnarsdóttir, Leader of VR, opens the meeting.
- Jakob Tryggvason, Chair of RSÍ, gives a short address.
- Jaya Sood gives a presentation entitled “Are high policy interest rates always the best answer? Different approaches to fighting inflation.” The floor will be opened for questions following the presentation.
- Halla Gunnarsdóttir will talk with Ásgeir Brynjar Torfason, editor of Vísbending and Jón Sigurðsson, CEO of Stoðir.
The meeting will also be livestreamed on visir.is.