Iceland's foreign minister, Ossur Skarphedinsson, said on Monday he was hopeful talks could resume in the next few days on settling his country's debts after Icelanders rejected an "Icesave" accord.
Voters overwhelmingly rejected a referendum on Saturday for a deal that would settle $5 billion in losses to Britain and the Netherlands arising from the failure of Iceland's top banks in 2008.
The outcome of the referendum had not been in doubt since Iceland had recently been offered better repayment terms than those contained in the deal on which residents were voting.
Skarphedinsson said on Monday that the Dutch finance minister and British officials had expressed a readiness to talk.
Skarphedinsson said he was buoyed by comments by British Finance Minister Alistair Darling on Sunday in which he said he was prepared to be flexible in reaching a solution.
Source: algaryherald.com/Iceland+talk+debt+with+Dutch+officials/2660189/story.html
