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BUDGET

Norway to tap more oil fund as growth slows

Norway’s right-wing government has decided to tap more of its gigantic oil fund this year, predicting that the ongoing slump in the oil industry will mean lower tax revenues and higher spending on unemployment benefit.

Published: 12 May 2015 16:00 CEST
Norway to tap more oil fund as growth slows
Statoil's Oseberg A facility. Photo: Harald Pettersen/Statoil
It’s out-take, at just 2.6 percent of the value of the $890bn fund, is nonetheless well within the country’s self-imposed limit of 4 percent.   
 
In an announcement on Tuesday the government said that money drawn from the oil fund would now contribute 168.8bn kroner ($22.4bn) to the budget in 2015, a 5bn kroner ($600m) increase on the amount announced last year. 
 
The country’s finance minister, Siv Jensen, said that while the economy was slowing, it was still healthy. 
 
“There is no crisis in the Norwegian economy, but we estimate slightly lower growth than we did in the budget for 2015.” 
 
According to the finance ministry’s latest estimates, Norway’s GDP (with the offshore oil sector excluded) will slow to 1.3 percent this year from last year's 2.3 percent. 
 
The government estimates that the slow down will lose it some $10bn in tax revenues. 
 
But Jensen stressed that she would not resort to fiscal stimulus to counteract the slow down. 
 
“Competitive businesses must adapt to lower demand from the Norwegian petroleum sector,” she said. “These adjustments are likely to happen earlier than previously anticipated due to the oil price decline.”
 

ECONOMY

Sweden boosts spending on civil defence in spring budget

Sweden is to channel a further 800 million kronor to local government and other organisations to bolster Sweden's civil defence capabilities, the country's finance minister has announced.

Published: 19 April 2022 09:11 CEST
Sweden boosts spending on civil defence in spring budget

The new funding, which will go to municipalities, regional government, and other organisations, was announced of part of the country’s spring budget, announced on Tuesday. 

“This will strengthen our ability to resist in both war and peace,” Sweden’s finance minister, Mikael Damberg, said in a press conference. “If the worst happens, it’s important that there is physical protection for the population.” 

The government is channelling 91m kronor towards renovating Sweden’s 65,000 bomb shelters, and will also fund the repair the country’s network of emergency sirens, known as Hesa Fredrik, or Hoarse Fredrik, many of which are currently out of order. 

A bomb shelter in Stockholm. Sweden’s government is spending 800m kronor in its spring budget to boost civil defence. Photo: Anders Wiklund/ TT

Sweden’s Social Democrats are currently ruling on the alternative budget put together by the right-wing opposition, making this spring budget, which makes changes to the autumn budget, unusually important. 

The budget includes extra spending of some 31.4 billion kronor (€299m), with 500m kronor going to extra spending on healthcare,  and 10.3 billion kronor going towards supporting Ukrainian refugees, of which nine billion will come from the aid budget. 

The spring budget also includes the so called “pension guarantee bonus”, or garantitillägg, which will see four billion kronor (€390m) going to those with the lowest pensions. 

The bonus, which was the price the Left Party demanded for letting Magdalena Andersson take her place as prime minister, risks being voted down by the right-wing parties in the parliament. 

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