More and more people believe that both their personal finances and Norway’s economy will be greatly improved in the coming year, the expectations survey from Finans Norge shows.
With the vaccination underway, people have begun to see the beginning of the end of the pandemic. It creates more optimism, Finans Norge Director Idar Kreutzer believes.
“The survey now indicates that most households are confident in their own finances and have both funds and a desire for increased consumption when large parts of the population have been vaccinated. This will help lift activity in the Norwegian economy,” Kreutzer said in a press release.
On the downside
At the same time, a majority of the population still has low expectations when it comes to the economy, and halfway through the first quarter of 2021, the main indicator once again ends on the minus side with -5.1. It is still better than last year’s last two quarters, which ended at -10.2 and -9.2 respectively.
The expectations barometer is a quarterly collaboration between Finans Norge and Kantar TNS. The barometer measures Norwegian households’ expectations of their own and the country’s finances and consists of five individual indicators (questions) that are gathered in a main indicator.
A positive number means that there are more optimists than pessimists, and the size of the number shows how many more there are in one or the other group. By comparison, the main indicator at the same time last year ended at 3.6.
Biggest change
The belief that Norway’s economy will improve in the coming year is the indicator that shows the largest positive change since the previous survey in November.
“The figures strengthen the belief that the Norwegian economy will experience a recovery when an increasing part of the population is vaccinated and society reopens,” Kreutzer said.
The indicator has strengthened from -74.1 in the last quarter of last year to -63.4 in the current quarter. In addition, the barometer shows that many have great faith in their own finances. Here, the indicator ends at 22.9.
More on travel
The barometer also shows a clear growth in Norwegians’ desire to spend more money on travel. The travel indicator was more than halved through the pandemic but is now rising sharply from the previous survey.
At the same time, the barometer indicates that people are tired of renovating their homes.
“We have used the pandemic time for renovation, and now we are looking for experiences,” Kreutzer said, adding that this is good news for the travel and tourism industry, among others.
“There are many indications that these activities will pick up markedly as soon as the proportion of vaccinated people in the population increases and the restrictive measures are reversed. Our hope is that households first and foremost increase domestic consumption in order to speed up the Norwegian economy again.”
Political dividing line
The barometer also shows that there is a clear distinction between respondents who vote conservative and those who belong to the red-green side.
There is more optimism on the conservative side than on the red-green side.
“The figures may indicate that the voters of the conservative bloc have confidence that the policy pursued is well adapted to the economic situation,” Kreutzer said.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayFinance
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