This has caused doubts about the Icelandic economy and its banking sector.

BBC: Why raising interest rates won't work

Using OECD figures, the Icelandic economy will have shrunk by an average of 0.75% a year over the five years from 2008 to 2012.

BBC: Icelandic lessons for the eurozone

Beyond the near collapse of the Icelandic economy, Alcoa has reacted to the global economic slowdown by cutting back on aluminum production around the world.

CNN: Can Iceland's geo-thermal power re-heat its economy?

We may never know if the collapse of the banks was inevitable, but the manner in which they went into bankruptcy turned out to be extremely damaging to the Icelandic economy, and indeed damaging to the economy of the United Kingdom and other European countries.

BBC: Why raising interest rates won't work

The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England all rejected Iceland's requests, stating, according to the Central Bank of Iceland, that the Icelandic financial system was too large relative to the size of the economy for plausible swap lines to be effective.

ECONOMIST: Iceland

Iceland's president, Mr Grimsson, also says Britain could learn from the Icelandic experience by cutting its dependence on banking and finance, which draws talent away from more productive parts of the economy.

BBC: Iceland's 'tenacity' lifts economy out of crisis