The salary settlement is eaten up by an unexpectedly high price increase – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

When LO and the Trade Union celebrated what they believed to be a historically good wage settlement, the price increase was expected to be 4.9 per cent. The wage settlement was a 5.2 per cent increase – and with that, real wage growth was guaranteed. On Thursday, however, the government presents an expected price increase of 5.4 per cent. The figures come in connection with the revised national budget being presented today. This means that the jubilation over increased purchasing power dies down, only a few weeks after the wage settlement was a conclusion and the general strike was called off. The answer to how high the price increase will actually be will come in January next year. – Uncertainty linked to such figures The trade unions have tried to give people a real wage increase in the last two years, but have not been able to achieve this. TBU missed how much they thought prices would increase last year. According to the government, they have also missed this year. Nevertheless, LO calls for calm. Roger Bjørnstad, the union’s chief economist, tells news that they are taking the price estimate of 5.4 per cent into account. Roger Bjørnstad, chief economist at LO. Photo: LO – There is great uncertainty associated with such estimates, and this is not the conclusion. Our and TBU’s estimate is far lower, 4.9 per cent. He points out that the government’s price estimates should primarily function as a management tool to compensate for the public sector’s expenditure growth. He thinks the government is taking it well when they think growth will be 5.4 per cent. – This is to ensure that public services once again suffer from a low estimate, as has been the case in recent years. Then we’ll see what the final number ends up being. Increase oil money use by NOK 56 billion The government will spend NOK 372.6 billion in oil money in 2023. This corresponds to 3 per cent of the fund, and involves an increase in oil money use of NOK 56 billion. Facts about key figures in revised national budget 2023 Gross domestic product Mainland Norway: 1.0 per cent Employment, persons: 1.0 per cent Unemployment rate, registered (level): 1.8 per cent Structural, oil-corrected budget deficit, measured in 2023 kroner: 372.6 billion Budget stimulus: 0.4 percentage points Withdrawal from the oil fund (“oil money use”): 3.0 per cent Estimated contribution from fiscal policy to growth in GDP for mainland Norway: 0.3-0.4 per cent. NHH professor Ola Grytten explains that the government is pushing more money into an economy that is struggling with too much money in circulation. – This can lead to some inflation and thus also a slightly higher interest rate, he says. – What could the government have done differently? – They could have bitten the sour apple and said that now we should tighten up a bit more. Instead of tightening, they have increased, he says to news. The Ukraine investment contributes to almost half of the increased oil money spending, according to the government. Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum visited the political quarter of news on Thursday morning to talk about the revised national budget. Photo: ISMAIL BURAK AKKAN / news



ttn-69