Finance minister ‘on steady course’
May 8, 2013
Norway’s left-center government coalition aims to keep the country’s strong economy on what Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen called “a steady course” when he released the government’s revised state budget on Tuesday. Opposition politicians claim he’s spreading Norway’s wealth much too thinly. “Careful economic management is critical to secure good development in the Norwegian economy,” Johnsen [...]
Høyre backs big fortune tax cuts
February 13, 2013
With the campaign well underway towards national elections later this year, Norway’s leading opposition party Høyre (The Conservatives Party) has proposed making large cuts in the country’s unpopular fortune tax (formueskatt). The proposal was met with resistance, however, even from all of Høyre’s potential coalition partners, who say the cuts will only benefit the wealthiest [...]
Jobless rate still high for immigrants
October 15, 2012
Norway’s strong oil-fueled economy has kept the country’s unemployment rate low for years, but it’s still high for immigrants, especially those from Africa, South America and parts of Asia. The opposition Conservative Party thinks employment rules should be eased to allow for more temporary work contracts, to help immigrants get a foot in the door. [...]
Protests rise over meat and cheese
October 10, 2012
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg claimed that angry opponents of his government’s move to boost income for Norwegian farmers, by dramatically raising import tariffs, would calm down once they read the portion of the state budget where the increases are outlined. Not so: Denmark’s trade minister, for example, is even more angry than before and still [...]
Most new jobs go to immigrants
October 9, 2012
Nearly 50,000 new jobs have been created in Norway during the past year and more than 35,000 of them have been filled by immigrants. The numbers, revealed when the government proposed its new state budget this week, show how much Norway now relies on what Finance Minster Sigbjørn Johnsen calls the “arbeidsinnvandrere” (literally, job immigrants) [...]
The new budget’s household effects
October 8, 2012
The new state budget presented by Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen on Monday may seem like pretty dry stuff, but it affects nearly every aspect of life in Norway. Higher prices for food and soft drinks, a higher mandatory fee to state broadcaster NRK and higher tax consequences of owning a second home are just some [...]
Government rolls out ‘tight’ budget
October 8, 2012
Norway’s left-center coalition government was rolling out what it called a “tight” state budget for the next year on Monday, but it nonetheless contains several increases in spending on culture, transport and social welfare programs from day care to elder care. The budget for 2013 represents the government’s last chance to fulfill campaign promises from [...]
Terror repair costs double
May 15, 2012
Clean-up and repair costs following last summer’s terrorist attacks in Oslo have more than doubled from the initial estimates made last fall. As the government rolled out its revised state budget on Tuesday, officials were already facing billions worth of unwanted bills. “This just shows what enormous damage resulted from the attacks, what consequences it [...]
Police ran budget surplus
March 30, 2012
Norway’s state police system cut costs before last year’s terrorist attacks to meet strict budgets, part of the reason why preparedness proved inadequate when the attacks hit. Now it’s emerged that the police ended last year with a budget surplus of NOK 227 million, setting off calls for a thorough examination of how the police [...]
Jensen: Euro crisis yields opportunity
March 13, 2012
Students at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo listened to an unusual lecturer on Tuesday, Progress Party leader and longtime Member of Parliament Siv Jensen. Her message was clear: There’s opportunity in crisis, and Norway can’t afford to rest on its laurels. As ministers from the country’s left-center government huddled for their annual budget conference [...]
Budget conference tougher than usual
March 12, 2012
They were all smiles on Sunday, as Norway’s 19 government ministers gathered in rural Hadeland, just north of Oslo, for their annual budget conference. They all face tough negotiations over the next two days, though, which have been known to leave some ministers angry or even in tears. This year’s conference, which marks the formal [...]
Budget more expansive than expected
October 6, 2011
The senior economist at Norway’s biggest bank, Kyrre Aamdal, said the state budget presented to Parliament by the left-center government on Thursday held “no big surprises” but was “a bit more expansive” that expected. Aamdal told news service dn.no that he thinks the budget, on the whole, was in line with the comments and warnings [...]
A tighter budget for turbulent times
October 6, 2011
Norway’s left-center government presented what it calls a tighter state budget for 2012 with a large surplus, amidst warnings that even the strong Norwegian economy won’t be unaffected by turbulent financial markets abroad. The budget, though, didn’t appear quite as tight as government leaders have claimed. It amounted to NOK 1,006 billion and includes large [...]
Fortune tax stirs up new storm
October 5, 2011
Norwegian labour union boss Roar Flåthen is normally a great ally of Norway’s Labour-led government but now even he has spoken out against one of the country’s most unique and controversial taxes, on individual fortunes. The government is resisting Flåthen’s initiative, mostly for fear of losing the revenues it brings. Every year, in addition to [...]
Parliament opens with talk on terror
October 3, 2011
King Harald V formally opened Norway’s 156th session of Parliament on Monday by reading aloud the traditional trontalen (the speech from the throne) on behalf of the government. This year it centered on the terrorist attacks of July 22, and how the government is responding. The attacks, intoned the country’s monarch, “were directed against Utøya [...]
