Could be forced to demand vote of confidence (Aftenposten)

The invective flew thick and fast among the opposition parties yesterday after Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss had finished reading his budget speech to the Storting. Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen, who the Government hopes will be the one to haul the budget out of the fire, refused point blank to start negotiations at all until the Government abandons its attempt to abolish the reimbursement scheme for seamen – an issue which Mr Hagen claims was resolved earlier in connection with the revised national budget for 2002. Nor is he particularly pleased with the proposed increases in taxes and duties on goods, such as alcoholic beverages, which many people prefer to buy in Sweden where they are already much cheaper. The Progress Party’s entire parliamentary group is extremely resentful that the Government – which wants their help – did not include anything in the budget that even looked like a hand of friendship.

Call for Bondevik’s resignation (Dagsavisen)

Several of the Christian Democrats’ own elected representatives believe there is no longer any point in having a Prime Minister called Kjell Magne Bondevik, if all the Government does is pursue a purely Conservative policy programme. "I am just about ready to give up. I cannot see that there is anything to gain by being in office," said Tore Johansen, mayor of Aremark.

Come to us, Kjell Magne (Dagsavisen)

Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen thinks the Christian Democrats will soon have reached the end of their tether in terms of the amount of Conservative policies they can swallow. She is ready and willing to save Kjell Mange Bondevik from the Conservatives’ clutches. "This budget is going in a completely different direction to that represented by the Christian Democrats during the election campaign," said Ms Halvorsen. She feels that the budget does not bear any of the hallmarks of the Christian Democratic Party, and says that the Christian Democrats would feel far more comfortable in a coalition government alongside the Socialist Left Party and the Labour Party. Her view is supported by Labour leader Jens Stoltenberg. "The Christian Democrats would have achieved much more in collaboration with us," he said. Both party leaders described the budget as antisocial and a classic piece of Conservative policy.

Redistribution of wealth abandoned (Vårt Land)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik is proud of what he describes as a historic boost for the poor. But the gap between poor and rich will not get any smaller as a result of the national budget announced yesterday. "We are talking about helping the very poorest. We are no longer talking about differences or redistribution," said Social Affairs Minister Ingjerd Schou. She claims that efforts to reduce the differences between people in Norway have simply led to more poverty and more drug-taking.

Bonus for Norwegian regions (Nationen)

NOK 500 million in regional aid, compensation for increased employers’ national insurance contribution in outlying areas and more cash for regional airports are just some of the titbits included in the national budget that will benefit the country’s regional areas. Small businesses are happy with a tight budget and the focus on innovation. "This is the tight budget we were looking for," said Tom Bolstad, chief executive of the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.

Foss sends bill to unemployed (Aftenposten)

76,800 people in Norway are now without a job. Next year that figure will rise to at least 100,000. The Government’s response is to cut unemployment benefits by NOK 430 million. Among the measures proposed are a reduction in the time for which unemployment benefits are paid from three years to two. The Finance Minister thinks interest rates will fall by one per cent next year. The problem is that Svein Gjedrem, the Governor of the Norwegian Central Bank, thinks no such thing – and he is the one who makes the decisions.

Bondevik’s fate to be weighed by Progress Party (Dagbladet)

Progress Party chairman Carl I. Hagen has no intention of rescuing Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik unless he is extremely well paid for the job. Not only that, but the Government’s fate will be decided through a process of "consultation" with the Progress Party’s members and voters. Mr Hagen will take an axe to key Christian Democrat policies by slashing foreign aid, cutting alcohol taxes and halting the influx of refugees. Anything could happen this autumn. The possibility of the Government being forced out of office is considerable. The Progress Party is now pursuing a budget strategy which will put the Government on the rack.

Finance Minister does not know who will lose out (Dagens Næringsliv)

Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss has not worked out the redistributive effect of his budget. The budget proposals for 2000, 2001 and 2002 included calculations showing the redistributive effect of the budget on various income groups. A calculation of that kind was also included in the budget amendment Mr Foss presented after taking office last autumn. Last year’s original budget had been prepared by the previous Labour government. According to Runar Malkenes, communications consultant at the Ministry of Finance, a calculation of this kind has not been made this year because the redistributive effect of the budget is only small.

Worth Noting

• Jens Stoltenberg has attacked the budget as antisocial and full of welfare cuts. "This government is paving the way for more unemployment, while cutting the benefits for those who lose their jobs," he said.
  (Aftenposten)
• "This is a budget which will deepen the gap between rich and poor, and increase the poverty of public services," said Øystein Djupedal, economic policy spokesman for the Socialist Left Party. He and his party are particularly disappointed over the rise in prescription charges.
  (Aftenposten)
• It took Kjell Magne Bondevik and his coalition partners less than a year to ditch sections of the joint political platform they had agreed on before taking office. Significant areas of the proposed national budget for next year go back on the Government’s own promises.
  (Dagbladet)
• The Bondevik government is to cut public grants to political parties by NOK 44 million. Only parties with the support of more than 2.5 per cent of the electorate at the last general election will qualify for financial assistance. The Red Electoral Alliance, the Coastal Party and the Greens are among those who will be hit by the new rules.
  (Klassekampen)
• The Royal Family comes very well out of the budget. The Royal Family will cost a total of almost NOK 150 million. The Crown Prince and his family will get the biggest raise, 31.3 per cent, while the King and Queen will have to content themselves with a 26 per cent increase.
  (Dagbladet)
• Christen Sveaas could be forced to give up the rest of his shares in Storebrand. Next week Mr Sveaas will have to pay up more than NOK 135 million unless he can get an extension on a futures contract for 4.8 million Storebrand shares.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Christen Sveaas has made a loss on almost everything he has invested in. The value of his shareholdings in Orkla and Storebrand has been slashed by NOK 1.1 billion this year.
  (Aftenposten)
• The difference in pay levels between Norway and the countries with which we compete has risen to a record 32 per cent this year. This could choke off investments in industry and lead to increased unemployment.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The Appeal Committee of the Supreme Court yesterday rejected the appeals lodged by Per and Veronica Orderud and Lars Grønnerød, but referred Kristin Kirkemo Haukeland’s appeal, alleging incorrect application of the law, to a hearing of the Supreme Court.
  (Aftenposten)
• Norway has more deaths due to drugs overdoses than the rest of Europe. Seven times more people die of drugs overdoses in Norway as in Sweden or Finland.
  (Aftenposten)

Today’s comment from selected newspapers

The opposition parties used strong language to describe the Government’s proposal for next year’s national budget. This was only to be expected considering that the basis for the pre-budget negotiations was to present a proposal that would be tight enough to ease the pressure on both interest rates and the exchange rate. This is vital to safeguard jobs in industries facing foreign competition. Both unions and employers, as well as the Labour Party, all agree on the need for a tight budget, although that agreement ends where specific cost-cutting measures begin. (Aftenposten)

As a rule fierce internal struggles lie behind a government’s budget proposal. With such a tight budget and three coalition partners each fighting for their own key policies, negotiations ahead of Bondevik government’s budget proposal have undoubtedly been tough. The Development Assistance Minister has reason to celebrate over the proposed increase in foreign aid allocations. The Health Minister, too, has received a substantial boost to his spending limit. Education is the biggest loser in this budget proposal. That education has such a low priority in the Bondevik government’s first budget of its own is a betrayal of Conservative Party voters. (Dagsavisen)

Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss passed the test when he presented his first national budget proposal yesterday. Last year he was only able to make minor changes to his predecessor’s work. In the revised national budget he made life easy for himself and the Government by spending every additional penny in taxes that turned up. But this time he has done a proper piece of work. The first signals indicate that the opposition, as usual, is concentrating on the Government’s list of cuts, which, not unnaturally, were announced with far fewer words than the areas it intends to focus more money on. But if a budget is to be tight and certain areas are to be given priority, other things have to be cut back. That the coalition government has done just that calls for respect. (Dagens Næringsliv)

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss have kept their word. They have presented a tight budget – to the delight of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) and more or less as notified beforehand. As a consequence the Government does not have many expensive, but popular measures to wave about. The coalition partners have each individually been given some small victories. The biggest party has got most and the smallest least. (Dagbladet)

Kjell Magne Bondevik’s government has presented a budget proposal that will keep it afloat. The budget was met by a storm of opposition party protest in the Storting yesterday, it is true. But that was just part of the script, and will frighten no one. Of course, it will not be easy for Mr Bondevik to save his budget and avoid a vote of confidence, but our bet is that he will nevertheless manage to do the job. (Nationen)

The national budget is a Bondevik budget. The Prime Minister was already painfully aware that he would be fairly alone in finding anything good to say about it – even though he thinks that is an unfair judgement. On the other hand a national budget is almost never received with enthusiasm. But this time the Finance Minister and the Government have come in for an unusually severe mauling. (Vårt Land)

The budget presented by Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss yesterday is a budget designed to deepen the gap between rich and poor, and increase public sector poverty. (Klassekampen)

Verdens Gang has not been received.