Maybe We Do Want To Be Like Iceland...

(Via the BBC)

Iceland's president has refused to sign a controversial bill to repay $5bn (£3.1bn) to the UK and the Netherlands.

President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson said he would instead hold a referendum on the bill, following public protests.

The legislation was designed to compensate governments forced to bail out their savers with Icesave accounts following Iceland's banking crisis.

Landsbanki, which ran the Icesave accounts, collapsed and was nationalised in 2008.

Legislation to repay the money was approved by Iceland's parliament in December, but the approval of the president is also required before it can be passed into law.

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On Saturday, the president received a petition calling for the bill to be vetoed, signed by almost a quarter of the country's population.

Campaigners against the bill say that the Icelandic public are being forced to pay for the mistakes of banks.