Iceland cuts policy rate by 1.5 percentage points

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

STOCKHOLM, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The central bank of Iceland, Sedlabanki, on
Wednesday announced a cut in its policy rate by 150 basis points to 15.5
percent, according to reports reaching here from Reykjavik.

The Monetary Policy Committee decided to lower the Sedlabanki's policy
rate. Other interest rates of the bank will be lowered accordingly, the central
bank said in a statement.

It is the second cut in rates by the bank in less than a month. Due to the
global financial crisis, the Sedlabanki raised its policy interest rate by 6
percentage points to 18 percent in October.