Norway scraps «below the line» financing

Helge Ingstad Salvage Frigate below the lineMarine salvage of the Norwegian frigate KNM Helge Ingstad. Photo: Norwegian Armed Forces

The Government shelves «below the line» financing

The Norwegian Government shelves its proposal to spend billions in addition to the regular state budget to finance the government quarter in Oslo and the wrecked frigate, KNM «Helge Ingstad», according to the “pink” newspaper Dagens Næringliv (DN). The «below the line» proposal was introduced in the Government platform.


The proposal for extraordinary financing was included when the bourgeois Government presented the Granavolden platform in January.

It was then proposed that a revamped government quarter and the replacement of the wrecked KNM «Helge Ingstad» should be financed by the use of petroleum income, bypassing the three per cent fiscal rule on the use thereof.

The Government now shelves this proposal, writes Dagens Næringsliv.

“We have had discussions about the issue of self-insurer and follow-up of the Granavolden platform, and in the work on the revised state budget, we have looked at what kind of options we have at our disposal. The sum of the answer to this is that we will maintain the current scheme, as the other possible models do not give us any particular added value,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg (Conservatives), explains.

Good Debate

The proposal for the «Below the line» solution was not exactly applauded, and many felt that such a solution would violate Norwegian budget practice.

Minister of Finance, Siv Jensen (Progress Party), tells avisen at de opplevde debatten rundt forslaget som «bra».

“It is always good that there is a debate in society about different formulations in a platform. We wrote that we should investigate this, and we have now gone through it and conclude that we continue the scheme as is,” Jensen comments.

Will be submitted in May

The entire assessment is presented to the Norwegian Parliament in connection with the revised national budget in May.

The main points entail, among other things, that expenses for replacements after loss and damage will still be covered within the ordinary budget limits. This was publicized by Dagens Næringsliv on Monday.

A comprehensive review of the state as a self-insurer will also be presented to the Parliament.


© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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