Norwegians boost their savings

Norwegians have become better at saving more of their paychecks since the finance crisis hit in 2008. Household debt levels remain high, but Norwegians also now have an average of NOK 200,000 (around USD 35,000) in the bank, according to a new survey from the country’s biggest bank, DNB. That’s higher than in earlier years, when [...]

Economy keeps humming along

The Oslo Stock Exchange is off to a good start this year, Norway’s currency remains super-strong, unemployment and interest rates are low and now a top labour and welfare official predicts that 100,000 more people will be employed in Norway by the end of next year. Earlier predictions of an economic downturn have been cancelled, [...]

Diaper smugglers raid local stores

Norwegian babies may have been born under a lucky – and rich – star, but as supermarket rivalry drives nappy prices down, shops are being raided by Eastern European customers for “the world’s cheapest” disposable diapers, leaving the little ones in Norway short of  a basic necessity. “A couple of times every month they arrive [...]

‘EEA agreement remains firm’

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has confirmed that the country’s main pact for doing business with the European Union (the EEA-agreement, or EØS-avtalen) remains firm as his coalition government seeks a third term this year. Stoltenberg’s coalition partners, often critical of both the EU and the EEA pact, had sparked speculation about a possible re-negotiation. “Today’s [...]

Multinational firms avoid paying tax

Many multinational corporations operating in Norway have been avoiding paying taxes by using creative accounting and loopholes in the tax system. Norwegian politicians are calling for tighter rules and a revision of tax laws to plug the holes. They’re calling such behaviour by foreign companies “theft,” after new data showed just how many billions of [...]

Oil fund may triple 2013 bonus payments

Bonus payments made this year to external managers of Norway’s huge so-called “oil fund” may be triple the amount initially estimated in 2012. The fund, formally known as The Norwegian Pension Fund – Global, is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. The oil fund was established in 1990 as a fiscal policy tool to [...]

Banks face potential rate scandal

Norwegian banks are facing claims by several international financial institutions that they’ve been manipulating their interbank lending rates. Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank, is worried and has asked financial regulators to investigate. “If this isn’t market manipulation, I don’t know what is,” a large, international bank wrote in a letter to Norges Bank and obtained [...]

‘Christmas is the new Easter’

Norwegians are heading for the mountains or traveling elsewhere this Christmas in droves generally only seen during the country’s long, traditional Easter holidays. The reasons are clear: A cluster of official holidays next week, and Norwegians able to afford making the most of them. Norway doesn’t offer the system of “bank holidays” found in many [...]

Good times likely to roll into 2013

Norway’s strong, oil-fueled economy looks set to stay that way in 2013, according to the country’s biggest bank, DNB. Its analysts and economists predict low interest rates, another rise in consumption and more economic growth throughout next year. The growth rate may be slower, at 2.4 percent instead of this year’s 3.5 percent, but that [...]

Norwegians buying more time

New studies show that many Norwegians, armed with a big increase in purchasing power in recent years, are opting to spend their disposable income on more time-saving services and fewer material items. Growth in consumption of goods has stagnated, while Norwegians are buying more services than ever before. Among them, for example, are the dog-walking [...]

Luxury retailers boom in Oslo

Norwegians are lusting after designer goods like never before. The Louis Vuitton shop in Oslo now has the highest sales per square meter in the country, and its success is likely encouraging the other top fashion houses that are heading for the capital. As the economic crisis deepens in the eurozone countries, Norwegians are splashing [...]

Housing prices slipped again

There were more signs this week that Norway’s high housing prices may finally be flattening out. Average prices in October fell slightly for the second month in a row, not by much but enough to spark speculation that the hot real estate market is indeed cooling off. The national real estate brokers’ association reported a [...]

Swedes paid to seek work in Norway

Young, unemployed Swedes are getting some financial assistance from their home communities to seek their fortunes in Norway, where the jobless rate remains low and many employers are eager to hire fellow Scandinavians. Sveriges Radio reported this week that the Swedish city of Söderhamn, about 250 kilometers north of Stockholm, is helping pay for its [...]

Borrowing costs set to stay low

The cost of borrowing money in Norway is expected to stay low at least through early next year, following the central bank board’s decision on Wednesday to keep the country’s key lending rate unchanged at 1.5 percent.  Øystein Olsen, governor of Norges Bank, said the bank’s so-called “key policy rate” was “being kept at a [...]

Banks demanding more cuts at SAS

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is under new pressure from both its banks and the three national governments of Sweden, Denmark and Norway that are its major shareholders. Intense negotiations involving the Swedish finance ministry reportedly won SAS a bit more breathing room, but the airline still must sell assets and cut costs in order to get [...]

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