Iceland to hold vote on repaying UK, Dutch loans

Iceland will hold a referendum on whether to repay Britain and the Netherlands for the billions of dollars in loans they made to cover Iceland\'s bank losses.



Iceland\'s parliament passed a bill last week authorizing a state guarantee for repayment of the loans, which allowed the country to repay minimum deposit guarantees to bank investors.



However, after public pressure, President Olafur Ragnar Grimmson refused to sign the law.



The Prime Minister reportedly received a petition on Saturday signed by a quarter of Iceland\'s voting population urging him not to sign the law.



It means that the law must now be put to a general referendum as soon as possible.



A simple majority is needed for the bill to be passed.