Icelandic officials will hold talks in Moscow on Tuesday about an emergency loan that could be worth billions of euros, the country’s latest attempt to raise cash to help save its economy from collapse, reports Reuters. Iceland has tapped the IMF for financing to help ease the crisis and some ministers have raised the possibility of membership of the EU, long resisted by its fishing sector, to safeguard the economy. An official from Iceland’s central bank said a delegation from the bank and government left for Russia on Monday to begin talks on the emergency loan, a move that has raised questions about Russia’s motives and what price Moscow might extract. Iceland’s stock exchange, which was closed Monday, was due to reopen Tuesday. Analysts said Iceland could not fix its problems on its own and had to get cash and line up external support. On Monday, an IMF official said the fund’s executive board discussed Iceland’s official request for finance at the weekend but that no amount had been agreed.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 5:26 and is filed under Capital markets. Edit this entry.