Iceland's president has refused to sign a controversial bill to repay $5bn (£3.1bn) to the UK and the Netherlands.

冰岛总统拒绝签署关于向英国和荷兰赔偿50亿美元的广受争议的法案。

President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson said he would instead hold a referendum公民投票权 on the bill, following public protests.

The legislation was designed to compensate¹ governments forced to bail² out救援 their savers with Icesave accounts following Iceland's banking³ collapse⁴.

Opponents argue the terms of the payments will unfairly hurt Iceland and its recovery from economic crisis.

Some reports say those opponents form a large majority of Icelanders - some 70% are said to be likely to vote "no" in a referendum.

Legislation to repay the money was approved by Iceland's parliament in December, but the approval of the president is also required before it can be passed into law.

It is now up to the government to decide how to proceed. It must consider whether to go ahead with a referendum or whether to withdraw the bill and reopen negotiations⁵ with the UK and the Netherlands about a repayment⁶ schedule.

The right to choose

The government has seen significant public opposition⁷ to the bill.

On Saturday, the president received a petition请愿，祈求 calling for the bill to be vetoed否决，禁止, signed by almost a quarter of the country's population.

Campaigners against the bill say that the Icelandic public are being forced to pay for the mistakes of banks.

The total compensation package equates⁸ to相当 about 12,000 euros ($17,300; £10,800) per Icelandic citizen.

Announcing the decision to hold a referendum on the bill, President Grimsson said that the Icelandic public had the right to choose.

"It is the job of the president of Iceland to make sure the nation's will is answered," he said.

"I have decided⁹... to take the new law to the nation. The referendum will take place as quickly as possible."