first-quarter

By Brendan Murray July 31 (Bloomberg) — The International Monetary Fund said its staff has reached an agreement with officials in Iceland that will end a delay in the first review of the country’s financial rescue package. “The agreement is now being reviewed by IMF management and will then need to be presented to the IMF’s executive board for their consideration and approval,” Poul Thomsen, deputy director of the IMF’s European department, said in an e-mailed statement today. A board meeting “could be held in late August or early September.” The review, initially scheduled for the first quarter of 2009, is needed for Iceland to get a $163 million disbursement that is part of a bigger financial aid package, the IMF official said in the statement. To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Murray in Washington at brmurray@bloomberg.net