Icelandic voters overwhelmingly rejected a $5 billion deal on Saturday to repay debts to Britain and the Netherlands, according to partial official results.

Partial referendum results from around 18,000 voters showed 98 percent opposed the deal.

Iceland's 230,000 voters were being asked to approve an agreement on paying back Britain and the Netherlands after they compensated savers in their countries who lost money in online Icesave accounts run by the failed Icelandic bank Landsbanki.

Iceland needs to agree a deal with Britain and the Netherlands in order to unlock the foreign aid it needs to turn around its collapsed economy.

(Reporting by Wojciech Moskwa; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Iceland United kingdom