The royal ministry of foreign affairs, oslo
Press Division

Norway daily no. 151/00

Date: 10 august 2000

LABOUR LEADERS SPLIT ON PRIVATIZATION (Dagsavisen)

Nine of Labour’s 19 county leaders definitely oppose putting care for the elderly out on bid, and a number of them are calling for an unequivocal stand to be taken against the privatization of health and care services at the national party convention. "I know of no instance in which private service providers have provided more or better services," says Bjørnar Olsen, head of the Nordland Labour Party.

BROADER POWERS FOR TAX COLLECTORS (Aftenposten)

New draft legislation in the works will make it possible for tax collectors to compel employees to provide information about employers. Tax collectors will be able to demand pay slips and other types of documentation to help them in checking whether tax has been withheld and payroll taxes paid. Vendors, banks and other businesses could also be ordered to supply information. This will make it possible to examine a business’s funds flow, which would facilitate the process of tracking down unregistered labour. At present, only tax assessment offices are authorized to take these steps. The Ministry of Finance believes the lack of these powers is a weakness in the tax collection process which has made it too easy for employers to evade examination. Unpaid taxes currently amount to NOK 8.8 billion.

FINANCE MINISTER KEEPS SILENT ON CRITICISM (Dagsavisen)

Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen admits no mistake in connection with the reorganization of the supplementary retirement scheme, but he will not say how the Government will be informed. Mr. Schjøtt-Pedersen points to the fact that the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) supports the plans, and that the LO has had representatives in the law committee’s reference group. Opposition to the bill is gathering within the LO. Several other cabinet ministers reportedly feel they have been deceived by the Finance Ministry, but Mr. Schjøtt-Pedersen declines to discuss criticism from fellow cabinet ministers. "I will not comment on the Cabinet’s internal discussions," says Mr. Schjøtt-Pedersen.

INTEREST RATES UP AGAIN (Dagens Næringsliv)

The central bank’s executive committee announced a 0.5 point rise in key rates yesterday, thus taking responsibility which politicians should have taken for the economic situation. "There is no doubt that it is necessary to tighten things up a bit. But a 0.5 point increase shows that Norges Bank has assumed a major responsibility. Budget policy is still the main implement for economic stability, so perhaps Norges Bank ought to have waited until next year’s fiscal budget is presented," says senior analyst Marius Lømo of Kreditkassen’s brokerage house, Christiania Markets.

STOLTENBERG HASSLED BY CLIMBING INTEREST RATES (Dagbladet)

Interest rates have gone up three times Since Jens Stoltenberg took over as Prime Minister in March. With yesterday’s rate hike, we are not far below the dizzying levels from the autumn of 1998, when Mr. Stoltenberg took great pains to pin the blame for record high interest rates on then Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. Mr. Stoltenberg sees no reason to take back anything he said in 1998, however. The current surge in interest rates bears no comparison with what happened in 1998, in his view.

RØKKE PUSHES BACK AT KVÆRNER BOARD (Dagbladet)

Kjell Inge Røkke has an ace up his sleeve which may give him the upper hand over the Kværner board. At least, that is what he wants the public and the Kværner management to believe. Aker Maritime says they are perfectly able to show their muscles by buying up more Kværner stock. They also imply that they already control more than the 26.4 per cent stake that is common knowledge. But with so many vague hints in circulation, no one will discount the possibility that they have been deliberately planted in an effort to convince the Kværner management that Mr. Røkke has more clout in Kværner than he really has.

KVÆRNER SCOFFS AT THREAT OF COMPETING BID (Aftenposten)

Kværner more or less rules out the possibility that an unknown third party could put in a bid for Aker Maritime. "No other major international players have been on the hook before. Mr. Røkke has travelled far and wide trying to sell this division, but without success. I certainly don’t know why anything should turn up now," says Kværner’s senior information officer, Trond Andresen.

Skyrocketing oil prices and a strong dollar have put Statoil chief Olav Fjell in an enviable position. Norwegian industry has never seen better half-year figures than what he presented yesterday. An inconceivable NOK 97 billion flowed into Statoil’s coffers in the past six months. After all expenses have been paid, but before taxes, the remaining surplus is NOK 18.8 billion. Not only is this a historic figure, Statoil earned more money in the first six months of this year than it did all last year.

WORTH NOTING

Ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo must leave Norway, preferably as soon as possible. Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Sylvia Brustad hopes they will leave voluntarily, as she has no desire to use compulsion. (Aftenposten)

Over 30 per cent of all employees at caregiving institutions in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim work for private, rather than public, employers. (Dagsavisen)

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) economist Eystein Gjelsvik, who is also a deputy member of central bank’s executive board, feels interest rates, as a means of controlling the economy, have soon outplayed their role. (Dagbladet)

One reason why Kværner put in a bid on Aker Maritime was to prevent Kjell Inge Røkke from selling Aker Maritime at an exorbitant price. (Aftenposten)

When Kværner employees meet Kjell Inge Røkke in another week, they will want to know his intentions for a merger between Aker Maritime and Kværner. The Kværner board is also in the dark regarding Aker Maritime’s industrial plans. (Dagens Næringsliv)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Vårt Land

Wealth has traditionally been limited to few people in Norway, and these few spent their money discreetly. But the rich have multiplied; the nouveau riche have become more ostentatious and their spending habits seem to be contagious. Consumption has reached staggering heights in Norway, and parallels are now being drawn to the Yuppy era of the 1980s. Prosperity has its price, however, especially for the national economy, and someone has to put on the brakes. This is one of the functions of the central bank, and governor Svein Gjedrem has been using interest rates to cool down the economy. This is a non-specific measure; it affects all who have debts, and there are many who are in no shape for a third interest rate hike in the space of a few months. Once again we see that the poor must pay for the unbridled spending of the rich.