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Icelandic leader foresees difficulty in redeeming samurai bond issue+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) REYKJAVIK, Nov. 14_(Kyodo) _ Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson indicated Thursday that an Icelandic bank hit by the global financial crisis could find it difficult to redeem debt issues including a 50 billion yen samurai bond issue in Japan. Kaupthing Bank failed to pay interest on the samurai bond issue placed in October 2006 by a deadline last month, plunging into an effective default. In 2007, it placed three more samurai bond issues worth 28 billion yen. Japanese investors are concerned that the issues might not be redeemed. "It is a difficult situation for us to be having to meet demands when the failure or a downfall of a bank was primarily caused by the British government," President Grimsson said in an interview with Kyodo News. Kaupthing and two other major Icelandic banks were placed under state control in October after massive deposit withdrawals amid the financial crisis. As the Icelandic government has suspended foreigners' accounts at these banks, the British government has frozen the banks' assets in Britain, exacerbating their problems. "While we understand the concern of the people in Japan, Germany and the Netherlands, it is important that they also realize that there are enormous losses that ordinary people in Iceland" have suffered, the president said. Grimsson expressed optimism that Iceland will be able to take advantage of its great resources, including fish stocks, geothermal energy and clean water, to recover from the present crisis. "The Icelandic economy and Icelandic nation have some fundamental strength, perhaps beyond many other countries, because we have very important resources which are of great value in the 21st century," he said. "I am reasonably optimistic about the long-term future of this country." Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc. |