State-owned industry neglected, says Gjedrem (Aftenposten)

Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, accused successive governments of neglecting the state’s role as a major owner of Norwegian industry, in his annual address last night. He said that a sale of state assets in the industrial sector would lead to stronger economic growth. However, Mr Gjedrem also said he believes that the Government should retain the State Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) in Norway’s oil fields.

Gjedrem says SDFI priced too low (Dagens Næringsliv)

The Government is not asking a high enough price for Norway’s State Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) in the country’s North Sea oil and gas fields. Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, also says there are good reasons to sell less of the SDFI than the Government is currently proposing. The former senior Finance Ministry bureaucrat describes the SDFI as an "extraordinarily effective money-making machine", and says that it is doubtful whether the Government will be able to sell its SDFI assets for a price for that reflects their true worth.

NOK 5,993 richer every second (Verdens Gang)

The Government Petroleum Fund, administered by Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, is expanding to the tune of NOK 5,993 every second. But Mr Gjedrem sees dark clouds up ahead. Despite the huge amounts pouring into the Fund, Mr Gjedrem yesterday spent a large part of his speech warning against increased use of the Fund’s cash reserves.

Prosecution of violent criminals to be speeded up (Dagsavisen)

Director General of Public Prosecutions Tor-Aksel Busch is pushing for a faster and firmer response to violent crime. The police will in future have a 90-day period in which to investigate cases of violent crime and bring charges. "There have been a lot of plans to reduce the time taken to investigate and prosecute in such cases, but there has never been as much pressure brought to bear as in this initiative," says Mr Busch.

Easier to enter Norway (NTB)

Local Government Minister Sylvia Brustad has published government proposals for changes to Norway’s Immigration Act which will make it easier for foreigners to get work and residency permits in Norway. The changes also aim to cut the time it takes to process such applications, particularly in cases of family reunification.

Unions call for 35-hour week (Dagens Næringsliv)

The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) will press for the introduction of a 35-hour working week and for the retirement age to be cut to 60. The demand comes despite the LO’s belief that the predicted boom in the number of elderly people has already started. The LO could present these demands as early as the 2002 round of national wage negotiations. The LO will also be fighting to secure all employees a supplementary pension provided through their employer, and flexible retirement between the ages of 60 and 70.

Union economist says Progress Party’s policies would increase poverty in Norway (Dagbladet)

"The Progress Party and the Conservatives are working to Americanize Norwegian society – a move that would destroy our Scandinavian-style welfare state," says Stein Reegård, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions’ chief economist. "Those parties’ policies would lead to greater differences in salaries, greater poverty, longer working hours, less leisure-time as well as less job security, holidays and social security benefits."

Power bluff (Dagbladet)

Liberal Party spokesman on energy and the environment Gunnar Kvassheim has made a strong attack on those who claim Norway is suffering from an energy crisis. "The so-called energy crisis is an enormous, well stage-managed bluff," he says. "Last month we set an all-time record for energy consumption, yet we still had surplus electricity for export. The ‘more power’ lobby kept pretty quiet about that, didn’t they?"

Worth Noting

• Dutch gas customers were trying to wriggle out of a major gas contract with their partners in the Troll gas field. They have now abandoned the attempt. As a result, the oil companies, led by Statoil, have now secured gas sales worth NOK 30 billion over the next 15 years. (Aftenposten)

• Medical experts from all over the country have published a protest report warning against Health Minister Tore Tønne’s hospital reform programme. The doctors are concerned that the result will be a health service outside democratic control. (Klassekampen)

• The Director General of Public Prosecutions wants Norway to follow Sweden’s example and introduce a ban on the use of racist flags, badges, swastikas and other nazi symbols. Three out of four voters agree with the introduction of a ban on nazi-style symbols, according to a recent opinion poll. (Aftenposten)

• Telenor posted net profits of NOK 1,076 million in 2000, compared to NOK 2,035 million in 1999. (NTB)

• The chief economists of the country’s largest high street banks believe that Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, will wait until at least the early autumn before lowering interest rates. Gjensidige NOR’s chief economist Øystein Stephansen says this view is based on the continued strong pressure being experienced by the Norwegian economy. The labour market is tight and investment levels in the oil sector have risen significantly. (Dagbladet)

• Secretary General Bjørn T. Grydeland of the Prime Minister’s Office has been appointed Norway’s new ambassador to the EU. Further turbulence at the Foreign Ministry seems likely. (Aftenposten)

• The Ministry of Cultural Affairs yesterday launched a government-funded website, kulturnett.no, which will act as a portal to all segments of the country’s cultural life. Stig Bang, editor of kulturnett.no, emphasized that Norway had launched a quality channel, free of advertising and "web noise". (Dagens Næringsliv)

Today’s comment from Dagens Næringsliv

Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, said a lot of sensible things during his annual address last night. But if what he said is taken at face value, it was pretty tame stuff. It is only when you begin to read between the lines that his message gains in significance. Even though his audience was made up of the country’s most prominent citizens, he should make his message clearer and simpler. If he believes that the senior executives and investors listening to him are largely to blame for last year’s nationally negotiated wage rises being too high, he should come right out and say so. Explaining that the result of the national wage negotiations was affected by ‘salary developments for other groups than those covered by the national wage negotiations’, does not carry the same punch. However, on one issue Mr Gjedrem was fairly clear, and that was his concern about the consequences of easy money. In good old-fashioned central bank style – you could almost see former governor Hermod Skånland’s mournful face in the background – Mr Gjedrem worried about whether Norway was worse off with its oil revenues than it would have been without. He pointed to the experiences of other countries that had been given access to valuable natural resources, which had ended up being a disadvantage to them. Mr Gjedrem also argued forcibly and eloquently against state ownership. But his conclusion that, "the sale of state assets in Norwegian industry would lead to better shareholder supervision and stronger economic growth" was not the most scintillating in the world. Why let his audience fumble their way to his real meaning amid a plethora of circumlocutions? Why not let them be able to quote the Governor as saying state ownership in Norway is too large and should be significantly cut back? Mr Gjedrem’s message would have been considerably more powerful, which must have been the point of giving such a thoroughly prepared speech to such a large group of prominent guests.

Sport

Bente Skari yesterday won the gold medal in the 15 km women’s event at the cross-country skiing World Cup in Lahti, Finland, where Norway has never previously won a World Cup gold medal for a cross-country event.