StoPrime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) denies that it is the government’s financial policy that has led to the fall in the Norwegian krone. He hopes and believes it will strengthen.
During question time in Storting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Joans Gahr Støre was asked one critical question after another related to the fiscal policy that is now being pursued.
According to NTB, the Progress Party’s fiscal policy spokesman Hans Andreas Limi pointed to the low krone exchange rate and asked the prime minister if there was something seriously wrong with the Norwegian economy.
This is a question many people ask, when you see that what is often referred to as the world’s richest country has a currency that falls in line with what you otherwise see in so-called banana republics in the third world.
Is the weakened krone and low krone exchange rate a temporary problem or is it permanent, Limi asked.
Limi referred to increased inflation, an increase in the number of bankruptcies and pointed out that several economists have stated that the fall in the value of the krone may indicate that something is wrong in the economy.
He therefore wanted and wanted to know whether the government would use fiscal policy to strengthen the krona.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre denies that there is anything wrong with the government’s financial policy and refers to the troubled times.
He pointed out that Denmark, which has pegged its own currency against the euro rate, has not fallen. The Swedish and Norwegian krona, which float freely, have on the other hand seen a sharp fall.
(He fails to mention here that the Norwegian krone has also fallen in relation to the Swedish krone).
We are exposed to financial turmoil in the world, oil prices have fallen somewhat and we are a small currency in a troubled time where you are looking for major currencies, Støre replied.
In the long term, I believe that the krone exchange rate can strengthen somewhat, but it is difficult to predict from here, continued the Prime Minister.
Then there is the question of whether Limi, the electorate in general and investors in other countries can be reassured that the prime minister believes and hopes that things will work out in time.