The use of oil money will increase this year. At least if Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) and Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) get what they want. They propose more resources for the reception of refugees, the Armed Forces and the hospitals in the revised national budget which will be presented on Thursday. They also announce a boost for pensioners. But without increasing taxes and fees. Real pension growth Recently, several politicians have adopted the concept of price compensation. That is, new allocations that cancel out the effect of the price increase in society. But in this year’s revised national budget, pensioners will get real growth outside of the price compensation. On Wednesday evening, Aftenposten was able to report that the proposed pension increase will be around 8 per cent. An income of NOK 450,000 will increase by NOK 36,540, while an income of NOK 300,000 will increase by NOK 24,360, according to the newspaper’s calculations. PENSION INCREASE: With the government’s proposal, the pension will grow more than the price increase in society. Photo: Frank May / NTB The government also gives tax relief to those with the lowest pensions. The tax for those with more than NOK 370,000 in pension will not be increased. For a pensioner who has around NOK 300,000 in income, NOK 4,500 in tax relief is given, Vedum states. Refugee support for the municipalities Furthermore, 338 new oil millions are proposed to encourage the municipalities to accept more refugees, NTB reports. In a new forecast for 2023, it appears that the country’s municipalities will have to settle for up to 45,000 refugees. More than 46,000 Ukrainians have already been granted asylum in Norway since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. One of the measures outlined is to give the municipalities a grant of NOK 50,000 per refugee who is resettled. The grant will be in addition to the ordinary integration grant the municipalities receive per refugee they settle. The municipalities will also receive NOK 27,450 extra for each person who makes use of the language training offer. Billion grant for the hospitals In the Hurdal platform, the government promised that waiting times would decrease, hospitals would be given increased basic funding, and that hospitals would be built with sufficient capacity. To follow up on the promises, Støre and Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) visited the New Radium Hospital building project on Wednesday morning. They brought with them a message about a proposed strengthening of 6.2 billion for the country’s hospitals. The grant helps to achieve the goals the government has outlined for the healthcare system, Kjerkol believes. She also believes that it maintains and strengthens Norway’s status as a role model for other countries, since we have a strong public health service that is managed by the community and financed from the tax bill. VISIT: Clinic manager for the Cancer Clinic Sigbjørn Smeland receives Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol at the New Radium Hospital building project. Photo: NTB The strengthening can be divided into three: A permanent budget increase of NOK 2.5 billion, around NOK 2.2 billion in extraordinary wage and price adjustments to the budget, and around NOK 1.5 billion in increased loan allocation. Reviving Andøya On Wednesday, Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) and Fisheries Minister Bjørnar Skjæran (Ap) were also present at Andøya air station, which was requested to be closed by the Storting in 2016. At the time, the Labor Party voted for closure while the Center Party voted against. But now both agree to revive the airport in the municipality. With them in their luggage, the ministers had a proposal of NOK 167 million to strengthen the ability to receive allies at the air station. It will facilitate NATO investments on Andøya in the hundreds of millions of dollars, says Gram. – But a basis for NATO investing in the infrastructure here is that Norway itself has ambitions for the airport for allied reception and reinforcement. That is what we want to facilitate now by having a certain presence here, developing the area and pushing the button so that NATO investments can come in the years to come, he adds. The government also proposes to spend NOK 5 million on establishing an aeronautical engineering education at NTNU. The training will be critical if Norway is to get the most effect from new combat aircraft, maritime surveillance aircraft and helicopters, says Gram.
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Will use oil money to finance increase in social security and more refugees – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
