Labour under 20 per cent (Aftenposten)

The Labour Party is now the country’s third largest party, behind both the Conservatives and the Progress Party, according to the latest poll. With a record low 18.3 per cent, the party is less than half Thorbjørn Jagland’s earlier election target of 36.9 per cent. The Conservatives are the largest party with the support of 23.2 per cent of the electorate, while the Progress Party has made the biggest jump by far, up 5.6 points to 20.9 per cent. The Labour Party is now only marginally ahead of the Socialist Left Party, which stands at 16.9 per cent. The Liberals and Christian Democrats have both lost support in the poll, sliding 1.9 and 1.7 percentage points respectively.

Stoltenberg: This is serious (Aftenposten)

"The Labour Party has been in difficulties for a long time, and this just reinforces the seriousness of the situation we are facing," said Labour’s prime ministerial candidate, Jens Stoltenberg. Today’s poll represents a cold shower for the party leadership, even though they have been prepared for the voters’ negative reaction to recent Labour in-fighting. "We in the Labour leadership have to respect the voters’ verdict and acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. Labour’s problems are much more serious than a simple clash of personalities. The figures fluctuate somewhat, but the trend has been negative for a long time. Our election result was not good, we have been suffering in poll after poll, and have had various problems over a long period of time," said Mr Stoltenberg.

Call for strike action twice a year (Dagsavisen)

Police officers, teachers and nurses are demanding salary increases totalling NOK 9 billion over the next few years. And public sector professionals are prepared go far to push through their demands. Utdanningsgruppenes Hovedorganisasjon (UHO), an umbrella organization for several public sector unions, also wants to be able to take strike action in the autumn as well as the spring. Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, has said that record wage rises will lead to increased interest rates. But the UHO’s members are ignoring the warning. They say they have shown restraint for long enough.

Christian Democrats’ policies wholly Conservative (Nationen)

The Christian Democratic Party has been completely steamrollered by the Conservatives and is pursuing policies which are the opposite of what they promised before the election, according to Odd Roger Enoksen, leader of the Centre Party. "Kjell Magne Bondevik insists that the Christian Democrats have not been steamrollered by the Conservatives. If that is the case, they have undergone a political metamorphosis. It is possible the party has not been steamrollered by the Conservatives, but in that case they must have been squashed flat by the Centre Party during the last parliamentary term. The policies they are pursuing now are the exact opposite of those pursued by the centre alliance government," said Mr Enoksen.

Air fares set to tumble (Dagbladet)

Air fares in Norway look set to tumble. SAS and Braathens will shortly slash their fares by 15 to 30 per cent. International flights could also become much cheaper. Senior executives at SAS and Braathens are in the process of fixing prices for the spring and summer season. The flight schedules are ready, and the only thing remaining is to finalize the fare structure. "We are going to see air fares like we have never seen before," according to someone who is currently working on the price schedule. But no one is willing to let slip exactly how much tickets will cost.

Gjedrem calls for easing of job protection legislation (Dagens Næringsliv)

Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, Svein Gjedrem, believes that job protection legislation should be eased to avoid the trend towards local wage negotiations resulting in increased unemployment. Mr Gjedrem is still preoccupied by the fact that labour is our most important resource when it comes to economic growth. It must be used in the most efficient way possible, because demographic developments indicate low growth in the size of the labour force in the years ahead. For this reason the framework conditions for wage negotiations and the regulations governing working conditions and the social security system were among Mr Gjedrem’s main themes during his speech yesterday.

Industry will lose out (Klassekampen)

Norwegian industry is facing hard times. Increased spending of the country’s oil revenues will lead to an even harder battle to attract and keep employees. It is a battle industry will lose, predicts Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank. It is jobs in industry which will disappear, not necessarily dividends or returns on investment. Those companies which are quick to make use of modern technology or transfer production to other locations still have the possibility of giving their shareholders a bright future," said Mr Gjedrem.

Worth Noting

• The battle against red-tape and efforts to simplify companies’ day-to-day operations have not been given priority after Ansgar Gabrielsen took over as Minister for Trade and Industry, according to the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO). (Nationen)
• The Housing Commission says that local authorities need to be encouraged to build new homes, and is now proposing that a government grant be given for each new home built in a local authority area. Today, many local authorities are reluctant to provide building land for housing developments because it means they incur additional costs to provide new schools, nurseries and roads. (Aftenposten)
• Den norske Bank (DnB) yesterday published another record financial result after a ‘demanding year’. Operating profits amounted to a whopping NOK 5.2 billion. DnB Markets’ profit stood at over NOK 1 billion. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• According to Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, the furniture industry could be the first to go to the wall when more of Norway’s oil revenues starts circulating in the economy. No regional policies are strong enough to prevent the centralization which lies ahead. (Aftenposten)
• Wage rises of anything more than 4.5 per cent will lead to a rise in interest rates. This was the clear message which Svein Gjedrem, Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, delivered to business and political leaders in a speech yesterday. (Dagsavisen)
• "Mr Gjedrem was totally wide of the mark when he said that job protection legislation in Norway is too strong. On the contrary, it is more expensive to make people redundant in other countries. His comparison with other countries does not hold up," said Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). (NTB)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

The Norwegian economy will face major challenges over the next decade, and it is not certain that Norway will remain a country with low unemployment. However, it is probable that Norway will remain a country with high interest rates. This, in short, was the message contained in Central Bank Governor Svein Gjedrem’s annual address yesterday. Of particular interest was Mr Gjedrem’s surprising analysis of the dangers of abandoning coordinated and centralized wage negotiations. As expected, he went through the implications of changes in fiscal and monetary policy over the past 12 months. Mr Gjedrem estimated that increased use of Norway’s oil revenues to fund public spending would lead to the loss of 60,000 industrial jobs in the years to 2010. Mr Gjedrem did not criticize the industrial downsizing, which he was right not to do. This is the consequence of directing more of our oil revenues and labour resources to purposes for which there is broad agreement – particularly with regard to strengthening welfare and healthcare provisions. In other words, this is the price of wealth.