The general government deficit was 8.6% of GDP in 2020 and 11.1% of GDP in Q2 2021.

Landsbankinn’s outlet in Þórshöfn has moved to Kjörbúðin’s facilities at Langanesvegur 2. The Bank’s services and opening hours remain unchanged and the ATM is accessible during Kjörbúðin’s opening hours.

A total of 150,000 foreign passengers departed via Keflavík airport in August.

Hrefna Ösp Sigfinnsdóttir, Managing Director of Asset Management & Capital Markets at Landsbankinn, has resigned her position with the Bank, where she has worked since 2010. She has already ceased employment.

The Icelandic economy grew by 7.3% in Q2 compared with the same period in 2020.

The Icelandic króna depreciated against the currencies of our main trading partners in August. At the end of the month, the euro stood at ISK 149.6, compared to ISK 146.9 at the end of July. The CBI intervened two days in August, selling euros both days.

New laws on financial instruments enter into effect on 1 September 2021. The changes require action from legal entities and natural persons, who are not Icelandic nationals or who hold multiple citizenships and intend to trade in financial instruments.

Customers whose tokens have expired may experience difficulties executing payment. If you get an error message when attempting to confirm a payment with your RSA token, it is likely that the token has expired.

Variable interest rates on non-indexed housing mortgages increase by 0.20 percentage points (pp). Fixed rates on non-indexed housing mortgages are unchanged. Interest rates on inflation-indexed housing mortgages, both variable and fixed, are also unchanged.

The MPC raised policy rates by 0.25 percentage points last week.

We expect the MPC to hold policy rates unchanged on Wednesday.

A total of 110,000 foreign visitors departed through Keflavik International Airport in July. This is the largest number of departures since February 2020.

On 23 July 2021, Landsbankinn announced that the Bank would offer to purchase shares from shareholders under the terms of a buyback programme during the period 26 July 2021 to 9 August 2021. During the period, Landsbankinn acquired a total of 1,700,672 own shares at a share price of 11.3387, for the total amount of ISK 19,283,411

The Facebook page and Twitter account of Landsbankinn now carry blue verified badges. These are the blue checkmarks that appear next to the Bank’s name on Facebook and Twitter.

The total number of Icelandair‘s passengers on international flights in July was 220,000.

In the second half of July, the króna began to weaken, but that weakening was fully reversed towards the end of the month. At the end of July, the euro stood at ISK 146.6, which is almost unchanged from the end of June. Of 22 trading days in July, the CBI intervened seven days, on four days it bought euros and on three days it sold euros.

Arion Bank and Íslandsbanki released financial results for Q2 last week.

We’d like to call your attention to a recent update of the RSA SecurID Software Token app, used for secure sign-in to corporate online banking.

Landsbankinn's Board of Directors has decided to exercise an authorisation to purchase the Bank's own shares, which was approved at the Bank's AGM on 24 March this year. The buyback programme allows for the maximum purchase of 57 million shares, or 0.24% of issued shares. Landsbankinn has previously offered shareholders the chance to sell their shares in the Bank, most recently in December 2018.

We reiterate our warning against fake text messages cybercriminals are sending out in Landsbankinn’s name. 

Landsbankinn's profit was ISK 14.1 billion during the first half of 2021, compared with a loss of ISK 3.3 billion for the same period in 2020. Return on equity (ROE) for the period was 10.8% on an annualised basis, compared with -2.7% during the same period of 2020.

Twelve groups and events received grants from the Pride Parade Fund of Reykjavík Pride and Landsbankinn this year. The Pride Parade, scheduled to be held on Saturday 7 August, is the pinnacle of Reykjavík Pride and this year marks its 20th anniversary.

UR Seafood (Útgerðarfélag Reykjavíkur hf.) is the first company to receive Landsbankinn’s Sustainable Financing Label. The company receives the label for its MSC certified sustainable seafood.

The international financial magazine Euromoney has named Landsbankinn the best bank in Iceland for the third year running. Euromoney points to Landsbankinn’s efficiency and profitability, and its lead in the mortgage lending market.  

Fixed interest on new, non-indexed housing loans will increase by 0.10 - 0.15 percentage points as of Thursday the 8th of July.

The Icelandic króna strengthened against the Euro in June, but weakened against the US dollar. Out of 18 trading days in June, CBI intervened in the market six days, buying euros.

Last week the CBI released the statements of the Financial Supervision Committee and the Financial Stability Committee.

The summer months usually see an increase in attempted internet fraud. Scammers may be hoping that people on vacation are more likely to thoughtlessly click on links or fail to read text messages or e-mails carefully before responding to them.

Íslandsbanki commenced trading on Nasdaq Iceland last week. Icelandair Group and Bain Capital reached a binding agreement whereby Bain Capital will buy new shares in Icelandair Group.

In June, the municipality of Árborg issued the first sustainability bond in Iceland, where the proceeds are intended to finance green or socially beneficial projects.