Covid-19: Iceland slashes rates to new all-time low

Bloomberg

Iceland’s central bank made a second emergency cut to its benchmark interest rate inside a week as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus rose to 247 in the tiny north Atlantic nation.
The seven-day term deposits rate was reduced by 0.5 percentage points to 1.75%, its lowest level ever. Sedlabanki also reduced countercyclical capital buffer on financial
institutions to 0%, from 2%.
The central bank said in a statement the measures were taken to mitigate the “negative impact on the economic outlook and financial conditions.”
The decision comes as the number of coronavirus cases shot up, from 47. Iceland’s economy is particularly exposed to impact of virus on global travel.
Tourism makes up almost half the country’s export
revenue.