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I’m not sure if the bank is just trying to scare British tourists to get them to buy kronur, but at first I thought maybe I wasn’t understanding the article correctly 🙂 However it does seem that there are reports of a kronur shortage, at least in Britain. I tracked down the original article as well.
Íslenskar krónur ófáanlegar í Bretlandi
Icelandic kronur scarce in Britain
Breskir ferðamenn, sem hafa hugsað sér að sækja Ísland heim, eru hvattir til að hamstra gjaldeyri hið fyrsta þar sem skortur sé á íslenskum krónum í landinu.
British travelers thinking of visiting Iceland are advised to stock up on the currency at once as there is a shortage of Icelandic krona in the country.
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The expression sækja heim was new for me as a way a saying visit. The verb hamstra actually translates as hoard in the dictionary, but is probably a little extreme in English. I thought here maybe “stock up” might be more appropriate.
Í breska dagblaðinu Daily Telegraph segir að M&S bankinn hafi varað viðskipta sína við að krónur kunni að verða ófáanlegar á Bretlandseyjum innan tíðar. Mikill fjöldi Breta sé á leið til Íslands í vetur til að sjá norðurljósin og ekki sé nægur gjaldeyrir fyrir þá alla þar sem íslensk stjórnvöld vilji hafa sem fæstar krónur í umferð til að styrkja gengið.
The British newspaper Daily Telegraph reports that M&S Bank has warned its customers that the kronur could become scarce in Britain soon. Many Brits are going to Iceland this winter to see the Northern lights and there isn’t enough currency for them all, since the Icelandic government wants to have the fewest krona in circulation to keep up the exchange rate.
The word fæstar is the superlative form of fár – few.
Þegar blaðamaður Telegraph leitaði eftir upplýsingum frá íslenska sendiráðinu í Lundúnum fengust þau svör að hægt væri að nálgast krónur á Íslandi í skiptum fyrir erlendan gjaldeyri á borð við bresk pund. Þá sé víðast hvar tekið við kortum á Íslandi og auðvelt sé að finna hraðbanka. Ekki er auðséð afhverju breskir ferðamenn ættu að hafa áhyggjur af því að komast ekki í íslenskar krónur.
When a Telegraph reporter sought information from the Icelandic embassy in London, they replied that it was possible to obtain krona in Iceland in exchange for foreign currency like the British pound. Credit cards are widely accepted in Iceland, and it is easy to find an ATM. It is unclear why British travelers should be concerned about obtaining Icelandic krona.
The verb nálgast here means to get or obtain something, but can also mean to approach.
hamstra v (acc) hoard gjald·eyrir m foreign currency skortur m lack, shortage ó·fáanlegur adj unobtainable, unavailable innan tíðar soon nægur adj enough, sufficient fæstur fewest gengi n rate of exchange sendi·ráð n embassy auð·séður adj clear, obvious