Finance Minister Vedum: There is no miracle cure against high electricity prices in Norway

Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (SP) says there is no miracle cure against the currently high electricity prices in Norway.

Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum told the newspaper Klassekampen that he is worried about the price development lately and says the government has started the work of reducing prices.

However, Vedum cannot promise measures that will result in immediate or rapid cuts in people’s electricity bills.

“There is no miracle cure. We now see the effect of decisions made many years ago. More extensive measures that will bring prices down a lot will take time,” Vedum told the newspaper.

Vedum said that increased electricity prices were a desired policy from the previous government. Nikolai Astrup, the Conservative Party’s new faction leader on energy and the environment, rejected his claims.

“Of course, it was not our goal to have the highest possible electricity price. On the contrary,” Astrup told NTB.

“The Conservatives proposed to reduce the electricity tax in the proposed state budget for 2022, and today we propose to increase housing benefits and social assistance quickly, so that we can help households with poor finances in connection with the high electricity prices,” he said.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayFinance

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