Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Over half the public thinks the Conservative Party leader should go, the government to increase defence spending, and costs of transport project in Moss soar. This and other news from Norway on Wednesday.
Government to boost defence spending
Norway will increase its defence spending by 15 billion kroner in 2024, a 20 percent increase compared to 2023.
"Russia's war of aggression in Europe is a very serious change in our security policy environment. Norway's insurance premium is membership in NATO, our relationship with close allies and the capacity in our own defence," Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre told the Norwegian newspaper VG.
Therefore, the defence budget for next year will be around 90.8 billion kroner. The government hopes this will meet the NATO country target of two percent of spending going on defence by member countries.
Some 7.5 billion kroner of the budget will go to military support for Ukraine. Since the current government took over in 2021, the defence budget has increased by 40 percent.
Norway will present its national budget for 2024 on Friday.
Costs for transport project in Moss soar
A new double-track train line through Moss has seen costs soar from a projected 6 billion kroner in 2017 to 25 billion kroner this year.
Technological magazine Teknisk Ukeblad reports that the difficulty of ground conditions has far exceeded expectations. Large amounts of quick clay have contributed to the soaring costs.
The project will see 10 kilometres of new railway tracks built through the city centre, two new tunnels and a new railway station. The project will be completed in 2030 and not 2024 as originally planned.
Over half think Erna Solberg should go
More than half think that Conservative Party leader and former PM Erna Solberg should resign before the next general election, according to a new survey from the newspaper Nettavisen.
Some 55.7 percent said Solberg should step down, while 28.3 believed she should stay on. The rest were undecided.
Solberg told the paper that polls showed solid support for her to continue among Conservative Party voters.
Solberg has been embroiled in controversy since it was revealed that her husband had traded shares thousands of times while she was in office, something which broke parliamentary ethics guidelines.
Loan customers expected to tolerate interest repayments of up to 8 percent
New loan customers must be able to pay interest rates of up to 8 percent in order to comply with lending regulations.
"It is more difficult to get a loan now because the interest rate is much higher. When we have to calculate how much we can give in loans, we have to use our calculation models differently," Ingjerd Spiten from the bank DNB told public broadcaster NRK.
Lending regulations require banks to test customers to see if they can withstand an interest rate increase of a further three percentage points on their total debt. This means that applicants are required to tolerate interest rates of up to 8 percent, even though the rate they will repay will be much lower.
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Government to boost defence spending
Norway will increase its defence spending by 15 billion kroner in 2024, a 20 percent increase compared to 2023.
"Russia's war of aggression in Europe is a very serious change in our security policy environment. Norway's insurance premium is membership in NATO, our relationship with close allies and the capacity in our own defence," Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre told the Norwegian newspaper VG.
Therefore, the defence budget for next year will be around 90.8 billion kroner. The government hopes this will meet the NATO country target of two percent of spending going on defence by member countries.
Some 7.5 billion kroner of the budget will go to military support for Ukraine. Since the current government took over in 2021, the defence budget has increased by 40 percent.
Norway will present its national budget for 2024 on Friday.
Costs for transport project in Moss soar
A new double-track train line through Moss has seen costs soar from a projected 6 billion kroner in 2017 to 25 billion kroner this year.
Technological magazine Teknisk Ukeblad reports that the difficulty of ground conditions has far exceeded expectations. Large amounts of quick clay have contributed to the soaring costs.
The project will see 10 kilometres of new railway tracks built through the city centre, two new tunnels and a new railway station. The project will be completed in 2030 and not 2024 as originally planned.
Over half think Erna Solberg should go
More than half think that Conservative Party leader and former PM Erna Solberg should resign before the next general election, according to a new survey from the newspaper Nettavisen.
Some 55.7 percent said Solberg should step down, while 28.3 believed she should stay on. The rest were undecided.
Solberg told the paper that polls showed solid support for her to continue among Conservative Party voters.
Solberg has been embroiled in controversy since it was revealed that her husband had traded shares thousands of times while she was in office, something which broke parliamentary ethics guidelines.
Loan customers expected to tolerate interest repayments of up to 8 percent
New loan customers must be able to pay interest rates of up to 8 percent in order to comply with lending regulations.
"It is more difficult to get a loan now because the interest rate is much higher. When we have to calculate how much we can give in loans, we have to use our calculation models differently," Ingjerd Spiten from the bank DNB told public broadcaster NRK.
Lending regulations require banks to test customers to see if they can withstand an interest rate increase of a further three percentage points on their total debt. This means that applicants are required to tolerate interest rates of up to 8 percent, even though the rate they will repay will be much lower.
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