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OIL FUND

Citigroup warns Norway against tapping oil fund

Global banking giant Citigroup has warned that Progress Party proposals to spend money from Norway's oil fund on infrastructure could seriously damage the country's international competitiveness.

Citigroup warns Norway against tapping oil fund
Ketil Solvik-Olsen - Progress Party
 
"It will certainly contribute to a strengthening of the krone if it is decided that more of the oil money is spent or invested in Norway," Josh O'Byrne, a currency strategist at Citigroup's London office, told the DN business newspaper.  "It will lead to more sensitivity to the oil sector, and probably greater inflation pressure nationally." 
 
O'Byrne was talking to the paper after he released a currency report that was highly critical of the Progress Party proposal. 
 
"A significant increase in financial stimulus, despite the limited spare capacity in the economy, could worsen Norges Bank's headaches, further weakening the competitiveness of the country, and potentially fuelling further rise in house prices," he wrote. 
 
Ketil Solvik-Olsen, the Progress Party deputy leader who is spear-heading plans to spend more of Norway's oil revenues, said that Norway would not suffer the 'Dutch disease' which afflicts big natural resource exporters if it limited spending to infrastructure. 
 
"If you spend money on roads or perhaps building a new hospital, you are pushing forward investments that are extremely profitable for society," he told The Local. 
 
"That’s where the Dutch went wrong: they spent too much money on welfare and decreased the competitiveness of their industry." 
 

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OIL FUND

Norway oil fund loses 18 billion euros in first half of 2020

Norway's huge sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, lost 188 billion kroner (18 billion euros, $21 billion) in the first half of the year as the global economy reels from the Covid-19 pandemic, the central bank said Tuesday.

Norway oil fund loses 18 billion euros in first half of 2020
Unusually empty slopes and ski lifts in Hemsedal in April. Photo: AFP

The fund, in which the Norwegian state's oil revenues are invested, was hit by plummeting share prices, with stocks accounting for 69.6 percent of its investments.

Its share portfolio posted a negative return of 6.8 percent in the first six months of the year.

At the end of June, the fund was valued at 10.4 trillion kroner (989 billion euros), up from the 9.98 trillion kroner seen at the end of the first quarter.

“The year started with optimism, but the outlook of the equity market quickly turned when the coronavirus started to spread globally,” the fund's deputy chief executive, Trond Grande, said in a statement.

“However, the sharp stock market decline of the first quarter was limited by a massive monetary and financial policy response,” he added.

Real estate investments, which represent 2.8 percent of the portfolio, also posted a negative return, of 1.6 percent, while bond investments, which account for 27.6 percent of assets, posted a gain of 5.1 percent.

“Even though markets recovered well in the second quarter, we are still witnessing considerable uncertainty,” Grande said.

The fund is meanwhile still mired in controversy over the appointment of a new chief executive.

Nicolai Tangen, a billionaire who founded the AKO Capital hedge fund in London, is due to take over the fund on September 1st, replacing Yngve Slyngstad who is retiring.

But critics have complained about Tangen's possible conflicts of interest, as well as his use of tax havens.

The central bank has meanwhile been criticised for irregularities in the recruitment process.

As a result, some major political parties are opposed to Tangen's appointment, and it remains up in the air.

READ ALSO: Norway's oil fund loses 1.3 trillion kroner ($125bn) in coronavirus crash

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