The governor of Iceland’s central bank (Sedlabanki) has lost a court battle over a 2009 salary cut. The ruling came on Wednesday 3 October when a Reykjavik court said via its website that the defendant in Mar Gudmundsson’s case was to be acquitted because the arguments brought forth by the governor and his lawyers “don’t lead to a ruling in his favour.”
The news comes nearly two years after Mr Gudmundsson’s salary was decreased to ISK 1.3 million (EUR 8,185) per month from ISK 1.5 million (EUR 9,500) per month by the independent committee that oversees government wages in the North Atlantic island nation. Gudmundsson immediately protested the move, although the committee refused to acknowledge his claims, leading to the governor’s subsequent lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Mr Gudmundsson remains a key player in the hot issue on whether Iceland is to join the euro. He told Bloomberg last month that the choice was reliant on two major factors: “Whether the euro zone manages to resolve its crisis, on the one hand, and whether Iceland manages to build a better framework around the krona. So this is a race between a better króna and a better euro.”
Control your own money! Build a better framework around the krona!