Brochure about the Norwegian Ministry of Finance

The Ministry of Finance is headed by the Minister of Finance, who has overall responsibility for the Ministry’s work and who is aided by a
political staff consisting of several state secretaries and a political adviser.

The administrative head of the Ministry is the Secretary General, and there are seven departments, including the Administrative Affairs Department.

Under the Norwegian Constitution, legislative power is vested in the Storting (the Norwegian parliament), and executive power in the King in
the Council of State, which is headed by the King and composed of the prime minister and the other ministers. The authority vested in the King
in Council is exercised by the government. Since the Minister of Finance has the main responsibility for national economic policy, he or she holds an important position in the government.

The Ministry is responsible for:

• planning and implementing economic policy
• coordinating the preparation of the budget
• ensuring state revenues by maintaining and developing the system of taxes
• monitoring financial markets and drawing up regulations
• managing the state’s financial assets

The Ministry serves as the Minister’s secretariat. It prepares documents that are to be presented to the Storting and background material and
advice for the government on issues such as economic and tax policy. The Ministry also has a number of administrative functions, implements
political decisions and is responsible for government agencies such as those dealing with taxes, duties and statistics.

Click for printerfriendly version