Iceland’s legal victory in the Icesave case should make it easier for it to get rid of its capital controls, according to its finance minister.

Katrin Juliusdottir said a huge amount of uncertainty had been lifted by the decision not to force the Icelandic state to repay the UK and Dutch governments, which themselves had reimbursed savers in the online offering of failed bank Landsbanki.

“Number one, the uncertainty is out of the way: legal and for the economy. That is a plus. That will help us with the lifting of the capital controls,” she said.

The fear is that if they are lifted too quickly or in the wrong manner they could jeopardise the two-year long economic recovery.

– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013)