Norway’s currency stronger than ever

The Norwegian krone set another record last year in terms of sheer strength, compared to other foreign currencies. That makes Norway even more expensive than normal for visitors from abroad and poses problems for Norwegian exporters, while Norwegian residents themselves can save thousands on overseas shopping trips and holidays. Newspaper Aftenposten reported Tuesday that the [...]

Royal representation in Davos

Norway will be royally represented, both literally and figuratively, at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that started this week and lasts through Sunday. Crown Princess Mette-Marit will be joining her husband this year at the high-power gathering of international movers and shakers. Crown Prince Haakon has been attending the World Economic Forum [...]

Broke immigrants told to go home

Labour Minister Hanne Bjurstrøm had a message over the weekend for hopeful immigrants from southern Europe who’ve been arriving in Norway in search of jobs: “Go home.” Bjurstrøm worries they won’t find jobs, and won’t be eligible for any help, either. “If there’s no work for them, then there is no work,” Bjurstrøm told both [...]

‘Exploration boom’ off Norway’s coast

Never before have so many companies won permission to search for oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf as they did this week, while discussion flies over whether Norway should construct a new pipeline from fields in the Barents Sea. Environmentalists dislike all the oil and gas activity and as always, Norway’s own Statoil [...]

EU agreements unlikely to waver

NEWS ANALYSIS: There’s been a lot of debate in Norway lately over the country’s trade and cooperation agreements with the European Union (EU), and a political strike was planned Wednesday over yet another EU directive. The debate is tied to a new study of how especially the so-called EØS-avtale (EEA Agreement) has affected Norway’s economy, politics [...]

Momentum grows for global talent

Norway’s fast-growing population of foreign and globally oriented residents are making their presence known and their voices heard, as they try to break into tightly knit Norwegian networks or form their own. The scores of them who packed a private Oslo home on Monday night proved the momentum they’re building, and they even managed to [...]

Minister admits: ‘We have a serious discrimination problem’

A new study has proven what many people in Norway already knew: Your chances of landing a good job in the country are dramatically lower if you don’t have a Norwegian name, and women still face challenges securing executive positions. The findings have upset, even embarrassed, top politicians who like to think Norway is an [...]

Northern Norway sails into oil age

The northern city of Hammerfest was being called “the new Stavanger,” a reference to Norway’s oil capital, as reaction and celebration continued following Statoil’s announcement of a huge new oil discovery just 200 kilometers away. The entire northern region is believed to be on the threshold of a new “golden age” of economic development. “This [...]

Extra billions flowed into state treasury

Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen suddenly found himself with tens of billions of extra kroner as the New Year began, that he hadn’t expected. He says it will come in handy if the Norwegian economy starts feeling the effects of the debt and euro crises elsewhere. The extra money that flowed into the state treasury is [...]

Firms brace for tough year ahead

Norway’s economy has weathered the storms of the past three years but most Norwegian companies are preparing for what some fear may be crisis times ahead. While many see signs of slowdown, though, others aren’t worried and don’t see the euro zone trouble as a major threat. “This is an incredibly difficult and uncertain situation, [...]

Labour rejects trade pact threat

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of the Labour Party has firmly rejected a move by one of his own government partners to trash Norway’s most important trade agreement with the European Union, the so-called EØS-avtalen. Støre was clearly provoked by the Center Party leader’s latest offensive, which may show just how desperate Labour’s troubled partner [...]

Stores notice fall in holiday sales

Norwegian consumers seem to be more careful with their holiday shopping this year, and sales have slipped in comparison to last year. Economists, though, still think Norway will avoid the worst of the global finance crisis and economic slowdown. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported that sales so far in December were down 1.8 percent in [...]

‘We’re crying with our clients’

Several top maritime lawyers who serve Norway’s shipping industry are working even longer days than usual, as miserable shipping markets wreak havoc with the finances of major shipowning companies. Some are comparing the situation to the crisis of the 1970s, when ships came out of the yards, were put straight into lay-up, and shipping fortunes [...]

Central bank cuts interest rates

UPDATED: The executive board of Norway’s central bank (Norges Bank) cut its key lending rate by a full half-point on Wednesday, because of concerns over effects of global financial turbulence and the euro crisis. The move brings the nation’s most important benchmark rate down to 1.75 percent, but bank customers can’t expect to see their [...]

Aker chose ‘The Tromsø Solution’

The northern city of Tromsø was celebrating after industrial firm Aker Solutions chose what it called “The Tromsø Solution” for its Arctic base of operations. The company’s new engineering office for offshore activity in the northern areas may employ as many as 300 persons within five years. Tromsø was chosen over such rival locations as [...]

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