The surprise interest rate increase by Iceland on Tuesday once again highlighted the fact that the health of the smallest economy in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development can have global ­ramifications.

With a gross domestic product of just €13bn ($20.3bn, £10.1bn) in 2006 and a population of about 300,000, the rugged island nation may be a small player by international standards. But in recent years the country’s dramatic transformation from a fish-based oceanic backwater into a diversified and booming North Atlantic tiger economy has put Iceland firmly on the map for international ­investors.