The

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic Ministry of Finance (Icelandic: ') is responsible for overseeing the finances of the

Icelandic government The politics of Iceland take place in the framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the president is the head of state, while the prime minister of Iceland serves as the head of government in a multi-party system. ...

. The Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs is

Daði Már Kristófersson Daði Már Kristófersson (born 22 October 1971) is an Icelandic politician serving as minister of finance and economic affairs since 2024. He is the deputy leader of Viðreisn Viðreisn (), officially known in English as the Liberal Reform P ...

Organization of the Ministry of Finance

The top

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in the Ministry of Finance is

Baldur Gudlaugsson Baldr (Old Norse also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, he is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was known in ...

, who was appointed

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day activities. Permanent secretaries are ...

from 1 November 2000.Baldur Gudlaugsson appointed Permanent Secretary, 6 October 2000
/ref> From 6 February to 30 April 2009, Indridi H. Thorlaksson is acting Permanent Secretary while Mr. Gudlaugsson is on leave.Indridi H. Thorlaksson installed as acting Permanent Secretary, 5 February 2009
/ref> He runs the ministry on a day-to-day basis and is the chief liaison between the Minister and the civil servants. There are six departments of the Ministry of Finance, each of which is headed by a

Director-General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

. The Ministry staff numbers around 80 specialists and support personnel.

Administration Department

The Administration Department is responsible for general operations of the Ministry, preparation of the ministry's annual operational budget and supervision of the Ministry's information services. It is headed by Angantyr Einarsson since 1 September 2007.Angantyr Einarsson appointed Director-General, 15 August 2008
/ref>

Budget Department

The Budget Department's main job is to oversee the production of the government's fiscal budget. In addition the Budget Department provides support for the supplementary budget and the government accounts bill. The Budget Office oversees relations with other Ministries and the Parliament concerning the preparation of the Treasury's budget. Nokkvi Bragason is in charge of this department since 1 March 2008.Nokkvi Bragason appointed Director-General, 31 December 2008
/ref>

Economic Department

The Economic Department is in charge of economic studies in Iceland. This involves surveying the economic situation and its prospects, and forecasting economic trends based on macroeconomic models. The Economic Department is also responsible for providing the revenue forecast for the fiscal budget and performing research into tax and benefit systems. The department oversees the Treasury’s domestic and international cooperation concerning economic matters. Thorsteinn Thorgeirsson is Director-General for this department since 1 January 2005.Thorsteinn Thorgeirsson appointed Director-General, 9 November 2004
/ref>

Financial Management Department

The Financial Management Department manages the government's assets and the Treasury fund. This department also ensures the proposed budget is carried out as per legal requirements and that the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

is run efficiently. The Director-General of this department is Thorhallur Arason.

Personnel Policy Department

The main role of the Personnel Policy Department is to represent the Ministry in labor market matters and to present its views. The department also offers advice on the implementation and interpretation of laws, regulations, agreements and government decisions. The Wage Negotiations Committee of the government operates in close cooperation with the department. Gunnar Bjornsson is in charge of this department.

Taxation and Legal Affairs Department

The main task of the department is to deal with tax matters, to draft bills for the

Althingi The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what la ...

and interpret existing laws. It also conducts research into the impact of existing taxes and tax changes. The Director-General of this department is

Marianna Jonasdottir Marianna may refer to: * Marianna, Arkansas, USA * Marianna, Florida, USA * Marianna, Pennsylvania, USA * An English spelling for Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil * 602 Marianna, an asteroid, number 602 in the minor planet catalog * Marianna (given na ...

National Tax Investigation Police

Goals of the Ministry

The Ministry's main goals are: *

Economic stability Economic stability is the absence of excessive fluctuations in the macroeconomy. An economy with fairly constant output growth and low and stable inflation would be considered economically stable. An economy with frequent large recessions, a pronou ...

and a high standard of living *A balanced treasury over the longer term *An economical and efficient tax environment *Responsible and performance oriented management of state finances *Transparent government operations and an effective organizational structure *State of staff of the highest quality *Delivery of a reliable service with the emphasis on professional work

List of Ministers of Finance

Kingdom of Iceland (1918–1944)

Republic of Iceland (1944–present)

References

External links

Official siteCabinets since 1917
(in Icelandic) {{coord, 64, 08, 52, N, 21, 55, 54, W, type:landmark_region:IS, display=title

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...