Reykjavik  - Iceland's central bank on Thursday said it would keep its key interest rate at 18 per cent, after raising the rates at the end of October.

Reykjavik - Cash-strapped Iceland was set to allow its currency to float as soon as the country secures new loans, Prime Minister Geir Haarde said Thursday in parliament.

Haarde further said the cost of the collapse of the North Atlantic nation's banks may total the equivalent of some 9.4 billion dollars or "85 per cent of GDP" last year.

A week ago, Reykjavik signed a 2.1-billion-dollar emergency loan with the International Monetary Fund to help stabilize Iceland's economy.

Reykjavik  - Iceland's central bank on Tuesday said it would hike its key interest rate from 12 to 18 per cent, after cutting the rates in mid-October.

The central bank, or Sedlabanki, had cut the rates from 15.5 per cent to 12 per cent on October 15.

Cash-strapped Iceland on Friday said it had signed a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 2.1-billion-dollar emergency loan to help stabilize Iceland's economy.

The IMF board has yet to approve the agreement.

Iceland has been hit by the global credit crunch that has seen the collapse of its three largest commercial banks.

Helsinki - Nordic nations on Monday promised to review cash- strapped Iceland's need for additional loans, and were to form a working group that would monitor Reykjavik's efforts to revive its economy.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, current chair of the Nordic Council, said the Nordic group welcomed the deal Iceland signed on Friday with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 2.1-billion-dollar emergency loan from the IMF to help stabilize Iceland's economy.

Helsinki - Economic output in Iceland was estimated to drop some 10 per cent next year, the prime minister of Iceland said Monday.

"We are going to get through this crisis and move on," Prime Minister Geir Haarde told reporters before a meeting of Nordic prime ministers in Finland.

Haarde said he hoped the cash-strapped North Atlantic nation will be able to get loans from its Nordic neighbours.

Helsinki