Norway’s finance minister warned that a change in government in the upcoming elections would lead to a higher wealth tax, trigger capital flight and threaten job creation in the richest Nordic nation.
“There are probably only a few things the red-green parties agree on, and it is more state control and higher taxes on Norwegian ownership,” Sanner said. “In the years to come, we must make better arrangements for value creation and job creation in Norway. As oil revenues will contribute less, it becomes all the more important to facilitate strong and diverse Norwegian ownership.”
Norwegian business investment will probably be little changed this year following a 6% plunge in 2020, with next year’s expansion forecast at 2.1%, Statistics Norway said in its new outlook on Friday. In March, it had expected a contraction of 2.2% this year and an expansion of 2.8% in 2022. It also said unemployment won’t be back “to what we consider a more normal level” until 2023.