Iceland's citizens could soon go the opposite way of the United Kingdom, with the country's coalition government announcing it'll ask parliament whether to hold a referendum on joining the European Union.
The country's Independence Party opposes joining the EU while its coalition partners Reform and Bright Future both favour it.
"We agree that it would be best that such a matter is dealt with in parliament," Benediktsson said.
Initial soundings from party representatives suggested Icelandic lawmakers would say yes to a referendum, although an opinion poll in December showed a majority of Icelanders were opposed to joining the EU.
The survey by research institute Market and Media Research showed 53 per cent of respondents were against EU membership while 26 per cent were in favour.
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The three parties said monetary and currency policy would be reviewed based on a central bank report in 2012 which examined ways to implement the inflation target and options for managing the crown, which plunged in value after the banking system crash.
"Efforts will be made to decrease the high level of fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Icelandic krona," the parties said in a statement.
Economists have suggested that Iceland should link the crown to a more stable currency to protect against future crises.
Worries that a renewed currency collapse could jeopardise the country's economic recovery have hampered efforts to finally remove the post-crisis capital controls.
"One of the government's priority objectives is to continue purposefully with the furthering of the programme for the lifting of capital controls," the parties said.
