Pension proposals could see people working longer

Later today, the Pension Committee will evaluate the pension reform introduced in 2011 by a red-green coalition. 

The reform was to ensure the state could pay for pensions through the National Insurance Scheme in the future with the number of pensioners increasing and people living longer. 

Currently, the retirement age is 67 years, with the possibility of drawing a pension from 62. However, the committee has proposed raising the pension limit. 

“Increasing the age limits is more financially sustainable. More people will stay longer at work,” Kristin Skogen Lund, committee leader, told public broadcaster NRK. 

Lund said that the retirement age for those born in the 90s could rise to 70, and the age when one could choose to draw a pension would be 65 and a half. 

Public Roads Administration wants to slim down motorway projects and lower speed limits

Norway’s public roads authority has said that it wants to slim down future motorway projects and lower speed limits. 

It plans for four-lane motorways with 110 kilometres per hour to become less common in Norway. Instead, new motorways would be built with two or three lanes with a 90-kilometres per hour speed limit. 

If new four-lane motorways are built, it would recommend a 90 or 100-kph limit. 

Its recommendations for slower motorways have been sent to the Ministry of Transport. Currently, the government is looking at its road projects, with several facing the axe. 

Sales of new homes decline

New home sales in Norway continue to decline, with sales last month 20 percent lower than a year before, figures from the Home Builders Association show. 

The Home Builders Association fears this may lead to a drop in the number of houses being built. 

“We are concerned about the consequences this will have for the housing supply, companies and employees in the future,” CEO Lars Jacob Hiim said. 

So far this year, 9,843 new builds have been sold.

READ ALSO: Key mistakes to avoid when bidding on a house in Norway

Oslo Deichman named most visited cultural institution

In just two years, Deichman Bjørvika in Oslo has become the country’s most visited cultural institution. 

Around 3.3 million people have visited the library since it opened in June 2020. 

“The high numbers make me proud and humble at the same time. The feedback from those who borrow books is also good. Many say they like the atmosphere and that it is a bit like being at home’ Merete Lie, a department director at the library, told newswire NTB. 

Oslo’s previous main library had attracted around 350,000 visitors per year. 

READ MORE: Best things to do in Oslo in summer 2022