GARDERMOEN (VG) Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre calls for moderation and secure financial management. He warns against interest rate increases if too much money is spent now.
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– We must be responsible. It is not the time to throw in billions of kroner that make it tip over, says the Prime Minister and Labor leader in his speech to the Labor Party’s national board meeting which is gathered at Gardermoen on Tuesday and Wednesday.
– We must prioritize, he says and referred, among other things, to the increased military spending.
– We choose safe financial management, he adds and gets applause.
The Prime Minister says that the crises Norway is currently experiencing will also affect the country in a year, when the local election campaign begins.
– No municipality in Norway will be unaffected by the crisis we are in. The municipal election will also be about how we meet this. If it is the turn of ordinary people, then ordinary people also live in the world where there is war in Europe, says Støre.
1 of 4Photo: HELGE MIKALSEN / VG
– Meet here at home
He warns against the economic consequences of the war and pointed out, among other things, that the Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara is closing factories throughout Europe.
– A food crisis underway, he states and went into the consequences for your wallet, without giving new promises.
– The crises abroad, hit us here at home as well. Record high electricity prices and fluctuating fuel prices. Food and other goods. But the paradox is that the Norwegian economy is doing well, says Støre.
Fear of interest
The Prime Minister says that wise choices in the past – which have given us oil, hydropower and the pension fund – give us opportunities.
– But if we make unwise choices and get a lot of gas in the economy, and spend too much money, it has consequences.
He referred to the yapping period in the late 1980s, when the housing rent was up to 17 percent.
– Rising interest rates hit hard. The interest rate will rise somewhat, before the weekend came the first adjustment. How much and how fast it happens has a lot to say for people’s everyday lives. One percentage point amounts to around NOK 25,000 annually for a family with three million in housing debt. A particularly high Norwegian interest rate will also affect the krone exchange rate. It can affect the jobs of competitive companies around the country. We are not going there, he says.
Climate goals correction
Earlier in the day, he went out in VG and was critical of what appears to be Sp’s new climate policy:
On Monday, Marit Arnstad, the Center Party’s powerful parliamentary leader, released one climate surprise from the rostrum at Sp’s national board meeting: She asks whether Norway can achieve the climate goals by 2030 without changing the criteria or postponing them.
– We must ask ourselves whether we must change the criteria for the Norwegian climate goals or postpone them for a few years, Arnstad said in his speech.
To VG stated Støre that the climate goals are fixed.
– Finished talking!
He was not willing to give anything when it came to reducing climate cut ambitions.
– If we are to reach the climate targets of a 55 percent cut, then we must cut emissions on the Norwegian shelf. Finished talking! he stated.
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