Lower pay for the majority (Aftenposten)

The OECD expects mainland Norway to have the lowest growth of all industrialized countries for the next five years. This will mean small wage increases and a drop in real income for most people. Companies that are not efficient enough will have to stop operating. Norway’s inability to take advantage of new technology, for example in the information and communications field, is the main reason for this gloomy prognosis from the economic cooperation organization.

Centrist alliance bubble is bursting (Dagsavisen)

The centrist parties do not agree as much as they would like people to think. This is becoming clear now, as politicians determine the guidelines for economic policy. The Centre and Liberal Parties do not agree on some major points in the recommendation to be submitted by the Standing Committee on Finance today. In addition, the Christian Democrats and Liberals support many of the Conservative Party’s views.

Minister criticized for being unclear and uncertain (Aftenposten)

Minister of Social Affairs Guri Ingebrigtsen is provoking sharp criticism because she is impossible to understand, she avoids answering questions, and she appears hesitant and indifferent. The criticism started pouring in after she made an appearance at Question Time at the Storting yesterday. In the middle of the questioning session, Conservative politician Inge Lønning remarked, "I can see that the Minister of Social Affairs is reluctant to get involved in political issues."

Liberals versus Conservatives (Dagsavisen)

The Liberal Party refuses to take part in a government in which the Conservatives are in the majority, for fear of being overwhelmed. According to Lars Sponheim, Liberal Party chairman, "It is impossible to form a government with some of the centrist parties and the Conservatives without our participation. But the Liberals cannot participate in a government in which the Conservatives have a clear majority."

PM promises half price (Verdens Gang)

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg promises that the cost of a place in a day care centre will be halved in the course of the next four years. "We will start this autumn by opening up for increased subsidies for children who already have a place. This will mean that a day care centre place will be NOK 150 to 200 cheaper per month than it would have been this coming autumn," promised the PM. The Government is proposing a further increase in subsidies to day care centres starting in the autumn of 2002.

Number of young disabled on the rise (Vårt Land)

Never before have so many young people received disability pensions. Last year 2 900 people under the age of 35 were receiving disability pensions, which is 50 per cent more than ten years ago. Mental problems are the most common reason for young people receiving these pensions. The National Insurance Administration is concerned about these developments. Physicians avoid using mental problems as grounds for recommending disability pensions, and prefer to cite somatic (physical) illnesses to spare the patients’ feelings.

Less cross-border shopping (Nationen)

Fewer Norwegians are crossing the border to shop in Sweden. During the first three months of this year, cross-border trade dropped by 8.6 per cent as compared with last year. This decline is not entirely due to the prohibition against importing milk and meat from the EU. In fact, in February, before the prohibition went into effect, cross-border trade dropped by 7.5 per cent.

DnB Investor voted for neutral Kværner board (NTB)

At Kværner’s annual general meeting last Friday, DnB Investor voted in favour of a neutral board for the company, instead of satisfying Kjell Inge Røkke of Aker Maritime. Top management at DnB Investor found it necessary to repeat this message yesterday. During the past few days some people have hinted that DnB Investor has acted in Mr. Røkke’s interests, and that a subsidiary of Mr. Røkke’s main bank connection would not defy one of its parent bank’s major clients.

Worth Noting:

• The conflict surrounding the role to be played by the president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions on the board of the Labour Party is splitting the Confederation’s annual congress. "What other organization would reject the opportunity to influence the Labour Party’s executive board?" asks Arnfinn Nilsen, chairman of the Norwegian Union of General Workers. ( Dagsavisen)
• The Minister of Finance refuses to postpone the VAT reform. However, he is prepared to look more closely at some of the rules. In the health services, for instance, the rules for VAT may be adjusted. ( Aftenposten)
• Foreign Minister Thorbjørn Jagland is trying his hand at facilitating peace negotiations between Yassir Arafat and Ariel Sharon. Mr. Jagland dangled a carrot, but nobody was biting. The Israeli Prime Minister showed no signs of yielding. ( Dagsavisen)
• The Liberal Party wants to disestablish the State Church and replace church weddings with a civil marriage ceremony. These proposals, which will be presented at the national party congress this weekend, will hardly be enthusiastically received by the Christian Democratic Party, with whom the Liberals would like to form a government. ( Nationen)
• Kjell Inge Røkke acknowledges that his defeat at Kværner’s annual general meeting was due, among other things, to the fact that several of the shareholders are afraid of him. "It is unbelievable that I am perceived as being that dangerous," said Mr. Røkke. ( Dagbladet)
• Kjell Inge Røkke will probably take the first opportunity available to get rid of the new Kværner board. He ridicules the results achieved by Kjell Almskog and scoffs at his vision of the future. ( Dagens Næringsliv)
• The price of petrol is rising. Yesterday the price increased by NOK .07 per litre. This gives a total price increase of over NOK 1 per litre so far this year. The Norwegian Automobile Association believes that petrol prices could affect the results of the election this autumn. ( Dagbladet)
• Medical operations paid for by employers will not be exempted from tax. The Centre, Labour and Socialist Left parties have all rejected the proposal, thus securing a majority against exemption. ( Dagens Næringsliv)
• A total of 400 000 people have to wait to be assigned a family physician because 297 doctors’ positions remain unfilled. On 1 March this year, almost eight per cent of the positions reserved for family physicians had not been filled. ( Verdens Gang)

Today's comment from Dagbladet:

Now, four months before the general election, the Labour Party is in serious trouble. Just as the party has managed to fight its way back to a kneeling position after the Progress Party debacle of this past autumn and winter, it is being flattened again by a new wind from the right. Of course, it is not certain that the election results this autumn will follow the most recent polls. A large number of voters are still sitting on the fence. In addition, a greater number of voters are shifting their allegiance than ever before. But the polls show what the voters are thinking now. And they clearly indicate that Labour, which has been the largest political party in Norway since the war, is being reduced to a medium-sized party. The polls show a party that is power-oriented and working hard, but that cannot reach its most important goal: to arouse public enthusiasm. Labour has no causes with a general appeal. Most people who need medical care are not even remotely interested in whether the hospitals are owned by the state or the county. They only care about getting the treatment they need quickly. It is all very well to modernize the public sector, but this is not designed to appeal to the public. The eternal harping on moderation, the increasing burden of high taxes and duties, give the impression that Labour is more interested in systems, the economy and the machinery of society than it is in the everyday problems of average people.