REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland's prime minister said on Friday that the cabinet had agreed to begin formal negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to request $2 billion (1.26 billion pounds) in aid from the Washington-based lender.
Iceland's financial system has all but collapsed and its economy is suffering badly after the country was forced to take over three of its biggest, debt-laden banks this month.
Prime Minister Geir Haarde, in a press briefing broadcast on Icelandic television, said he did not think the fund had laid out any unacceptable conditions.
(Reporting by Omar Valdimarsson via Stockholm newsroom)