Economic affairs and economic outlook

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs handles matters which concern the country's economic management. This implies responsibility for drafting economic policy, with the principal objectives of promoting economic stability and a good standard of living.

The Ministry oversees the preparation and implementation of the government's economic policies, the co-ordination of public sector economic management and presentation of economic affairs both domestically and abroad. To this end the Ministry carries out assessments of the economic trends and outlook, prepares economic surveys, monitors statistics and communicates with foreign rating agencies and various international institutions dealing with economic issues.

The mandate of the Ministry also covers in part issues concerning financial stability, foreign exchange and monetary policy, as well as the Financial Supervisory Authority, insofar as the Authority's activities are under its auspices.
Statistics Iceland and statistical reporting are also the responsibility of the Ministry. Its assessments and analyses of the economic situation and outlook are based principally on the statistics and macroeconomic forecasts of Statistics Iceland, but consideration is also given to analyses by other parties, especially the Central Bank of Iceland, as appropriate.

In addition to the data gathered and stored by the Ministry itself it accesses databases which are kept by various specialised agencies, including Statistics Iceland and the Central Bank of Iceland, as well as international institutions including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat. Iceland participates in the work of the above-mentioned institutions under the auspices of the Ministry.