Conservative Govt.
to sell stocks
A large scale sell-off of government-owned stocks is likely to follow if the Progress Party (Frp) and the Conservatives (H) come to power after next year's general election.
 Progress Party leader Siv Jensen (left) and |
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The Progress Party, which favours a smaller role for the government in society, is ready to sell NOK 300 billion (USD 60 billion) of government stocks.
The value of government-owned stocks on the Oslo stock exchange totalled NOK 570 billion, according to figures for 2007.
A Frp-H coalition in 2009, would propose selling state-owned shares on a large scale. This is confirmed by both Torbjørn Hansen (H) and Øyvind Korsberg (FrP).
"One of our aims is to sell NOK 288 billions worth of the Government's holdings in the 2009 – 2013 period," says Korsberg.
Both parties think it will be possible to sell the shares in an acceptable manner, over a four year period, assuming there is a majority for it.
"The Conservatives aren't planning quick sale, but there are several industries where the state has little or no reason to be involved," says Hansen. He wants to continue the sell-off started by the first Stoltenberg government, which was continued by the second Bondevik administration.
The Progress Party wants to go further. It wants to sell the government holding in Scandinavian Airlines. The Conservatives aren't ready for this yet. Both want the state to reduce its ownership in major companies like StatoilHydro, Telenor and Yara. The Conservatives want to maintain absolute majorities in StatoilHydro and Telenor, while the Progress Party wants to settle on 34 percent ownership.
"We want to maintain enough shares to ensure that company headquarters and research and development divisions stay in Norway," says Korsberg to financial news website E24.
Consensus between the Parties breaks down after the sale. Frp want to put the money straight into a government infrastructure fund, whereas H want to reinvest the money through the Government Global Pension Fund.
Sven Goll
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