Households’ wallets have gone sharply into the red in 2022. Skyrocketing price increases for electricity and increased loan interest rates have given most people worse advice. – 2022 has been a very expensive year, because prices and interest rates have increased a lot. Consumers have responded to this by reducing their savings to keep consumption up, says chief economist Kjersti Haugland at DNB Markets. Prices have risen faster than wages. It has gone beyond the savings of Kari and Ola nordmann. Policy rate in percent The policy rate is set eight times a year by Norges Bank. The policy interest rate governs the interest rates in the banks, and affects your housing costs. The aim of raising the interest rate is for the high prices to come down again. The forecast tells us how Norges Bank thinks interest rates will develop in the future. Read more about the electricity charges and when you get electricity support here. A higher policy rate means increased expenses if you have a mortgage Figures from Statistics Norway’s national accounts show that purchasing power fell by more than 4 per cent from the second to the third quarter. 2021 was the year in which fund savings were higher than ever. This year, households have sold off fund shares at a pace not seen since the financial crisis. At the same time, the figures show that private customers are more careful with their money. Many who still have savings turn their savings into funds with a lower risk. So-called fixed income funds. Increased food prices The comparison of food prices and the wage trend says something about whether you get more, less or the same amount for your money. When the development of food prices is higher than the development of wages, it means that food has become more expensive. Both figures are averages for the specified period. Read more about sources and reservations here. How much food prices have increased in the past year, compared with wage developments Food Nov 2021 – Nov 2022 Wage developments Estimates for 2022 Up until November, households had sold equity funds for NOK 3.2 billion more than they bought them for. At the same time, they bought bond funds for 1.7 billion more than they sold. This is shown by figures news has received from the Verdipapirfondenes forening. From shares to interest In other words, more money has gone out of mutual funds than has come in. It hasn’t happened in many years. Figures from the national accounts show that total savings fell like a stone from the second to the third quarter. – Now there is one month left. But if 2022 ends with a net negative output, we have to go back to 2008 to see something similar, says Bernt Zakariassen, CEO of the Verdipapirfondenes forening. While mutual funds are like a basket made up of many shares, bond funds are in practice a basket of several loans, for example to companies or municipalities. – More people have joined fixed-income funds, because fixed-income funds now give good returns. Fixed income investments have become very attractive to many who save, says chief economist Harald Magnus Andreassen at Sparebank1 Markets. Chief economist Harald Magnus Andreassen at Sparebank1 Markets believes fixed income funds have once again become attractive as a form of savings. Photo: Lise Åserud Forecasting better times for households In addition, the government, with support from SV, has made share savings less favorable compared to bank savings. While the tax on earnings from bank savings is 22 per cent, it is now close to 38 per cent on mutual funds. As a result, bank savings and savings in fixed-income funds have become more favorable than share savings. – At one point or another, electricity prices will level off and will no longer contribute to further price increases. At the same time, wage growth in 2023 will probably pick up. I don’t think 2023 will be a sparkling year for wage earners, but it will probably be significantly better than this year, says Andreassen. Sparebank1 Markets predicts that wages will offset inflation next year. It is almost the same to the decimal point as Norges Bank and Statistics Norway, which predict a marginal decline in purchasing power. DNB, for its part, expects a small plus. – I believe that after a solid decline in real purchasing power in 2022, the stage is set for a certain rise in real wages next year. So we can hope that this trend continues in the years to come, says chief economist Kjersti Haugland at DNB Markets.
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Fewer managed to save in 2022 – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
