Mar Gudmundsson, Chairman of the Central Bank of Iceland has confirmed that a portion of the promised loan to Iceland from the Scandinavian countries will be requested before the beginning of December and will hopefully be received before Christmas.

Gudmundsson made his announcement in a speech to the Society of Business Administrators and Economists yesterday while talking about the Central Bank’s current projects. The promised Scandinavian loans which Iceland has access to amount to EUR 1.8 billion, or ISK 330 billion.

According to RUV, the Central Bank chairman would not be drawn on how much of the loan amount will be requested. The answer to that question would have to come from the Minister of Finance, he said.

Gudmundsson said he hopes only a small portion of the loan will actually be needed as there are still plenty of funds available in Iceland and the system does not appear to be under financial attack at the moment. Every day that loan funds are not needed saves Iceland money, he said.