Position: Finance Minister
Incumbent: Steingrimur Sigfusson
Date of Birth: Aug. 4, 1955
Term: 2009-2012
Key Facts:
-- The chairman of the Left-Green party, the junior party in a coalition government with the Social Democratic Alliance.
-- Sigfusson was born in Thistilfjordur, a farm in the northeast of the North Atlantic island nation. He is married with four children.
-- The Left-Green Movement was established in 1999 to create a forum for leftists and environmentalists. Its criticism of laissez-faire capitalism and the crisis helped it gain mainstream appeal.
-- His Left-Greens have traditionally been opposed to NATO and the European Union although they softened their stance on EU membership following the island's financial crisis. Still, he has said he believes Icelanders would say no in a wider vote on the issue.
-- With a degree in geology, Sigfusson was first elected to parliament for the People's Alliance in 1983 and has been a member since. He has also served as minister of fisheries and agriculture.
-- As finance minister, Sigfusson has dealt with Iceland's so-called Icesave dispute with Britain and the Netherlands involving debts worth more than $5 billion for money lost in Icelandic savings accounts during the financial crisis. Iceland struck a new repayment plan with the two countries in December but the deal must still be approved by parliament.
-- Sigfusson has helped oversee Iceland's recovery from its worst-ever recession, helping to create greater stability so the island can get back on a more normal footing, remove strict foreign exchange controls and return to international capital markets.