STOCKHOLM, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Iceland has been hoping to secure a $2 billion lifeline from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a loan it believes will spur other potential lenders to help the island overcome a crippling financial crisis.
A report in the Financial Times on Wednesday said the IMF is withholding its backing for the loan.
Iceland's currency collapsed after the global credit crisis forced the government to take over three of the country's largest banks.
Here is a rundown of where various nations and institutions stand regarding assistance for the crisis-hit country.
IMF
Agreed a plan on Oct. 24 for a provisional $2 billion loan that still required executive board approval.
Days later, Iceland raised interest rates six percentage points to a record 18 percent, a move officials said was in line with an IMF request. However, there has been no decision from the IMF yet on the Iceland loan.
The fund said it had a meeting on Iceland slated for Nov. 5 but on Nov. 6, Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde said the fund was set to discuss the matter on Nov. 10. On Wednesday, the Financial Times said the decision had "now been put back to an unknown date" with no explanation for the delay.
SWEDEN
Sweden is one of three Nordic nations that inked a foreign exchange swap agreement in May allowing Iceland to access up to 500 million euros from each country. Iceland has not taken any funds from the Swedish line although it has tapped Norway and Denmark for 200 million euros each.
On Oct. 27, Haarde listed Sweden among those Iceland was talking to about borrowing an additional $4 billion on top of the expected $2 billion from the IMF. Others in that list were: Norway, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Russia, the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said during a summit in Finland in October that Nordic countries were ready to help Iceland but had not decided on an amount. Nordic leaders at the summit agreed to set up a working group to look at the question of further assistance.
Sweden's central bank said on Oct. 8 it was providing as much as 5 billion Swedish crowns ($628 million) in loans to the Swedish arm of Icelandic bank Kaupthing, a unit that has been put up for sale.
RUSSIA
At the height of its crisis in early October, Iceland announced it had secured a 4 billion euro loan from Russia, only to have to reverse course and admit a deal had not actually been agreed. Iceland and Russia held talks later in the month but those ended with only a vague pledge to resume talks later.
FAROE ISLANDS
The tiny Danish territory, comprising 18 volcanic islands in the North Atlantic, offered a loan of 300 million Danish crowns ($51 million) to Iceland on Oct. 30. The loan amounts to some 2 percent of the Faroes' annual gross domestic product.
EUROPEAN UNION/ECB
Iceland said on Oct. 31 it was in talks with the EU about a possible loan and the European Commission said on Nov. 10 that financial assistance had been formally requested.
A commission spokesman said any loan would be small and would be conditional on sorting out deposit guarantees between Iceland and EU members, many of whose residents had deposits with offshore units of Icelandic banks.
The deposit issue sparked a feud between Iceland and Britain, which used anti-terror legislation to seize a local arm of Icelandic bank Landsbanki in what it called a move to protect British savers' deposits.
Iceland is not an EU member and prior to the crisis its residents and politicians were sharply divided over the idea of joining, a pre-requisite for adopting the euro. But a poll in an Icelandic newspaper late last month showed public support for entering the EU and adopting the currency had surged to 70 percent. In September, support for EU entry had been 55 percent and backing for the euro at 44 percent.
NORWAY
Norway, which is also part of the Nordic swap arrangement agreed in May, said on Nov. 3 it would lend Iceland's central bank 500 million euros ($631 million) for five years and extend the foreign exchange swap agreement through 2009.
POLAND
Poland said on Nov. 7 it planned to offer Iceland a $200 million loan and it said contributions were also expected from Britain, the Netherlands and Nordic countries.
(Compiled by Adam Cox; Editing by Victoria Main) ($1=7.967 Swedish Crown) ($1=5.895 Danish Crown) ($1=.7921 Euro) Keywords: FINANCIAL ICELAND/
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