Saturday, May 18, 2013     News feed

Finance minister ‘on steady course’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 [...]

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