CENTRAL BANK CAUTIONS AGAINST TAX ON DIVIDENDS (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)

In its annual letter to the Ministry of Finance commenting on the recently announced budget for next year, Governor Svein Gjedrem and the executive committee of the Norwegian Central Bank have called for measures to increase the size of the workforce at the same time as they caution against the proposed new dividend tax. In the letter, Mr Gjedrem writes that the budget will have a more or less neutral effect, but that the increase in both expenditure and taxes may result in a "somewhat higher" level of inflation than that previously estimated by the Bank. The Norwegian Central Bank is extremely concerned about the rise in the level of sick leave and the increase in the number of people receiving disability pensions, factors which it believes could have "very serious consequences for the growth potential of the Norwegian economy and for the possibility of improving public services".

HANISCH PROMISES CLEAN-UP AT LABOUR MARKET ADMINISTRATION (Aftenposten/Saturday)

Director General of Labour Ted Hanisch has no plans to resign. He says he will clean up, following revelations that the Labour Market Administration has been fixing its figures. Among the measures being considered is the closure of the 18 County Employment Offices and their replacement with four or five regional offices. But the opposition parties in the Storting question whether Mr Hanisch should be given a new term as head of the Labour Market Administration. However, he has received support from the Norwegian Federation of Business and Industry (NHO).

BIG PAY DIFFERENCES AMONG TOP MANAGERS IN STATE-OWNED COMPANIES (Aftenposten/Saturday)

More than NOK 1.8 million separates the best and the worst paid chief executives of Norway’s state-owned companies. There are also major differences in fringe benefits and pension schemes. If these differences are included, the wage discrepancy may be even greater. It caused a stir earlier this spring when it became known that the board of Statoil had awarded previous chief executive Harald Norvik a generous severance pay and pension package. It was therefore decided that the various ministries should compile a list detailing the salaries of the senior managers of 21 state-owned companies. The list only covered wholly-owned companies.

12,000 OFFICERS TO BE DISARMED BY POST (Verdens Gang/Saturday)

The Armed Forces plan to disarm several thousand reserve officers – by post. Twelve thousand handguns are to be handed in due to a "changed level of potential threat" and high costs. But the Army Logistics Staff are not making the reserve officers hand over their weapons in person. They can send them parcel post! It is not clear whether the Norway’s military high command has approved this unconventional mail-order disarmament, but when VG contacted them yesterday evening their reaction was sharp. They will be looking into the matter immediately.

ASYLUM-SEEKERS GET YES FROM SWEDEN AND NO FROM NORWAY (Aftenposten)

Four out of five Kosovo Albanian asylum-seekers have their applications granted in Sweden. In Norway less than one per cent of Kosovo Albanians have so far been allowed to stay. Norway’s Directorate of Immigration (UDI) says that the most obvious cases are processed first and that this may be the reason that so few have been allowed to stay. According to Bjarte Vandvik from Norwegian Association for Asylum Seekers (NOAS), there is no reason to believe that asylum-seekers in Sweden have a greater need for protection than those in Norway. The Centre Party has asked the Minister of Justice for an explanation.

WORTH NOTING

1. The suggestion in yesterday’s edition of Vårt Land, which proposed the creation of a solidarity fund for the poor, has received wide-ranging support among foreign aid organizations. "It is an idea that I would gladly discuss further," said Aid Minister Anne Kristin Synes. (Vårt Land/Saturday)
2. The Norwegian Central Bank’s budget letter has been well received. Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen says the letter cautions against Progress Party policies, while the opposition parties believe it points a warning finger at the Government. (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
3. Liberal Party chairman Lars Sponheim is not in the least surprised that the party’s youth wing is now supporting EU membership. He does not think it will have any influence on the main party’s EU policy. The Young Liberals voted 34 to 20 in favour of EU membership at its national party conference in Bergen this weekend. (Nationen)
4. Christen Sveaas has exercised stock options making him the largest single shareholder in Orkla. Mr Sveaas now owns almost nine per cent of Orkla’s shares, but it is still unclear what his plans are for the company. (Dagens Næringsliv/Saturday)
5. Half of those who have sought asylum in Norway since 1 July have still not yet been interviewed despite the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) having been given added resources in the form of higher staffing levels. (Aftenposten/Sunday)
6. "The welfare state will be strengthened by a boost in local authority funding," said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, 2 October, in connection with the publication of the Government’s proposed budget for 2001. Recent figures from the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities show an effective cut of NOK 2.25 billion next year. (Klassekampen/Saturday)
7. The current Labour Government’s ambition is to modernise the public sector. On the orders of chief reformer and Government Administration Minister Jørgen Kosmo, the Directorate for Public Management has evaluated the current list of more than 40 different inspectorates and around 240 supervisory schemes. The Directorate recommends reducing the number of supervisory bodies from today’s 40 to around seven or eight. (Dagens Næringsliv)
8. More and more Norwegian women are choosing to postpone having their first child until much later. Last year there were three times as many first-time mothers over 40 than there were 20 years ago. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)
9. Farmers around the country are delighted with the autumn’s mild weather. There are still strawberries in the fields in Tromsø, while in Lier they plan to harvest the Brussels sprouts at the end of November. (Nationen/Saturday)

TODAY’S COMMENT FROM VERDENS GANG

The signs are that we will soon see some major changes in the political landscape. Concern generated by a series of disturbing opinion polls have led several parties to question their future direction. The Labour Party will almost certainly lose power unless it seeks to form a coalition. The so-called centrist alternative is currently so feeble that it will need to find allies on the right or left if it is to have a chance at all. And on the right at the moment, anything is possible. For some time now, the Labour leadership has been courting the centre with a view to establishing a more formalised collaboration both before and after the election. Up to now they have not succeeded. The centre parties have chosen to stand side-by-side before the election –the election result will determine what happens afterwards. Many Centre Party members are critical of the centre alliance. Some want to break out as soon as possible in order to join forces with Labour and the Socialist Left Party. The Christian Democrats and Liberals lean more in the direction of a collaboration with the Conservatives than with Labour. This proves how difficult the political landscape is for the moment. But at least no one can say Norwegian politics is boring right now. Next year’s general election will be extremely exciting. Today there is no clear prospective government alternative. Any permutation is possible. The question is whether such an unpredictable political situation is good for the country. It is not going to be easy to be a voter next year since no one can know for certain what kind of government coalition they will be voting for.

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