Norway faces pressure to tap its $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund to boost aid to Ukraine
The calls come amid souring relations between the US and Ukraine, raising pressure on Europe to step up.
Norway has spent less on Ukraine aid than its neighbors. Its SWF is worth $1.8 trillion.
Norway is facing growing pressure to tap into its massive sovereign wealth fund to boost aid for Ukraine as concerns grow over continued US support for Ukraine's war efforts.
Norway, a founding member of NATO, has a $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, fueled by oil and gas revenues, as well as investments in stocks, bonds, real estate, and renewable energy.
The country caps its annual use at 3% to finance Norway's welfare state and budget. However, amid growing tensions between Washington and Kyiv, Norwegian politicians and economists are pushing to tap the fund to increase support for Ukraine.
"Norway is one of the few countries that has large money easily accessible, and we must therefore double our support to Ukraine immediately," Guri Melby, the leader of Norway's Liberal party, said in a Facebook post Saturday.
Arild Hermstad, the country's Green Party leader, said that "Norway has a record-high oil fund that we must now actively use to secure peace and democracy in Europe and Ukraine."
Norway has spent less on aid to Ukraine than its Scandinavian neighbors, allocating just 0.75% of its GDP, compared to Sweden's 0.91%, Finland's 0.98%, and Denmark's 2.17%, according to the Kiel Institute for World Economy Ukraine Support Tracker.
Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in an X post on Thursday that parliament had agreed to double the country's financial pledge to Ukraine this year, to about $8.1 billion.
The Prime Minister's Office didn't reply to a request for comment from Business Insider.
But when it comes to the sovereign wealth fund, Norway's finance minister, Jens Stoltenberg, a former NATO Secretary General, warned last month that breaking the 3% cap would be risky and should only be used in times of crisis.
Meanwhile, in an op-ed published last weekend, 47 Norwegian economists, analysts, and professors urged the country to use the fund to help Ukraine.
"Russia's attack, if not stopped, poses an existential threat to freedom and democracy, not only in Ukraine but throughout Europe, including Norway," they wrote.
Knut Anton Mork, a professor emeritus of economics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, told BI it wouldn't be the first time Norway had broken the 3% cap.
It exceeded it by 1.2 percentage points in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and by 0.1 percentage points during the 2008 financial crisis, when it was already set at 4%.
Even so, Mork said "disregarding the 3% rule would be somewhat unusual, and more so the larger the gift."
He predicted that the government would likely stay "within the 3% rule, or maybe slightly above" it.
Einar Lie, a professor of economic history at the University of Oslo, who along with Mork signed the op-ed, said breaking the 3% cap to aid a foreign country has never been considered before, but he argued that helping Ukraine to "survive and deter further aggression is vital" for long-term security.
"It is definitely more likely to happen as a part of a broad concerted action among European countries and, hopefully, the US," he added.
Calls for Norway to step up its spending for Ukraine come amid uncertainty over Washington's commitment to the war-torn country.
Last Friday, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to the White House, President Donald Trump accused Zelenskyy of "disrespecting" the US.
Days later, Trump said he was pausing all military aid to Ukraine. One military expert told BI that if US aid does not restart, then Ukrainians could hold out for perhaps two to four months.
The situation has raised concerns about how Europe could step in to further help Ukraine's defense.
At emergency talks in London on Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a "massive surge" in defense spending among European allies was in the works.
And on Tuesday, the European Union unveiled a plan to boost member states' defense spending amid what von der Leyen referred to as an "era of rearmament."
The ReArm Europe plan could unlock about $840 billion in funds.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
a minute ago
- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani mentions Andrew Cuomo in same breath as Jeffrey Epstein in new video
Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is going nuclear on rival Andrew Cuomo — attempting to link the ex-governor to Jeffrey Epstein in a new scorched-earth campaign video. In the 90-second TikTok-style spot, Mamdani, looking into the camera, demands that Cuomo release his list of consulting clients, noting the ex-gov once worked on a luxury marina project with a pal, Andrew Farkas, whose former business partner was Epstein. 'In June, the New York Times found out that Cuomo worked with his longtime friend Andrew Farkas on a luxury marina project in Puerto Rico. Farkas' previous partner on Caribbean luxury marinas was none other than Jeffrey Epstein,' Mamdani says. 8 Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani released a scathing new attack ad against his rival former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 8 The video lists of a number of alleged scandals involving the ex-governor — even linking him to Jeffrey Epstein. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock The mud-slinging from Mamdani comes days after Cuomo hammered the socialist for snagging a $2,300 rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria despite his family's apparent wealth. Cuomo even proposed 'Zohran's Law' to prevent well-to-do residents from obtaining rent-restricted apartments. The new spot starts with Mamdani noting that Cuomo 'resigned in disgrace and you probably know why' — then shows footage and articles about women who accused the then-gov of sexual misconduct and the controversy surrounding his nursing home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Democratic mayoral nominee demands that Cuomo release the list of clients from the consulting firm he launched in 2022 after he exited the governor's office, Innovative Strategies LLC. Mamdani gripes in the video that Cuomo has not divulged who paid him. But published reports have said Cuomo worked for a crypto currency exchange based in the Seychelles that eventually pleaded guilty to operating illegally in the US. The Democratic socialist Queens assemblyman also notes that Cuomo did not initially disclose $2.6 million in stock options from a nuclear company to the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board. 8 The ad mentions that Cuomo worked on a luxury marina project in Puerto Rico with friend Andrew Farkas — who was a business partner with Epstein. New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP 8 Mamdani's ad highlights a Bloomberg article showing a link between Epstein and Farkas. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 'His excuse? The stocks were technically owned by Innovation Strategies LLC – where Cuomo is the sole member,' Mamdani says. 'That's the thing about Andrew Cuomo: once you think you've learned all the scandals, you find out there's another. And another. And another. ' Cuomo can clear the air, Mamdani says, adding: 'Habibi – release your client list.' 8 A photo of Cuomo with Farkas shown in the Mamdani ad. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC A rep for Cuomo gleefully responded that they could 'smell the desperation from conspiracy peddling' in Mamdani's attack. '[Cuomo] didn't know Epstein, but you can smell the desperation from conspiracy peddling Zohran,' said Cuomo campaign spokesman Richard Azzopardi. The former governor — who is running as an independent in the November election after getting soundly bested by Mamdani in the Democratic primary — also has vehemently denied he sexually harassed anyone. 8 Mamdani also bashed Cuomo over his COVID-19 book scandal. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC One campaign strategist said Mamdani's ad was a 'gutsy move' — and likely a response to Cuomo scoring points by hitting him for his rent-stabilized apartment. 'It's a gutsy move. Mamdani is defining Cuomo to general election voters on his terms,' said O'Brien 'OB' Murray, who has run campaigns for Republicans and Democrats. He said Mamdani is not leaving it to campaign surrogates to do the dirty work and is willing to go toe-to-toe with Cuomo. 8 Mamdani also took a shot at Cuomo's performance in the city's Democratic mayoral primary. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC 'It's a page out of Donald Trump's playbook. When the candidates say something about an opponent, voters pay attention to it,' Murray said. But Mamdani risks 'tarnishing' his image by getting in the mud with Cuomo, even if he wants to keep the focus on the ex-gov's past scandals, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion. 'The Cuomo people are probably happy to draw a response. They want to engage Mamdani,' Miringoff said. 'Zohran risks tarnishing his image.' 8 Mamdani called on Cuomo to release the list of clients involved with his consulting firm Innovative Strategies LLC. YouTube/@ZohranforNYC Azzopardi dismissed the video as 'nothing more than a temper tantrum from an insecure child of privilege who knows his tenuous lead is slipping away.' He said the project in question with Farkas never got off the ground, and in regards to his consultancy business, Cuomo does not comment on those 'private client matters' and has not represented anyone with business before a New York city or state agency. Azzopardi also said the stock options were publicly disclosed in Federal Communication Commission files for years. 'There was a question about if and how they were required to be disclosed on city filings, which, after consulting with the Conflict of Interest board, we corrected the same day the matter was brought to our attention,' the Cuomo rep said. 'Try as he might, Zohran can't distract from the rank hypocrisy of growing up wealthy, owning hundreds of thousands of dollars of land in a country that has the death penalty for LGBTQIA people and making more than $140k a year for a job he doesn't show up to while taking a rent stabilized apartment meant for a working New Yorker, not to mention his flip flopping on the defund the police and supporting pro-Hamas criminals like the Holy Land Five,' Azzopardi said. 'He's a total fraud and with every passing day New Yorkers see it.'
The Hill
31 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump BLS pick suggests suspending monthly jobs report over data concerns
President Trump's nominee to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) suggested the agency should stop issuing monthly jobs reports, claiming that the data the agency uses to calculate them is not reliable. E.J. Antoni, whom Trump nominated Monday to lead BLS, said the agency should 'suspend issuing the monthly jobs reports, but keep publishing more accurate, though less timely, quarterly data.' 'Major decision-makers from Wall Street to D.C. rely on these numbers, and a lack of confidence in the data has far-reaching consequences,' the nominee told Fox Business. Trump nominated Antoni, the chief economist at the far-right Heritage Foundation think tank, to lead BLS after the president fired the agency's previous chief, Erika McEntarfer, after the release of the dismal July jobs report. The report showed not only showed meager job growth last month, but also included steep downward revisions to the May and June employment reports. On net, the report showed the U.S. adding roughly 100,000 jobs over the past three months — barely a third of what economists deem necessary to prevent unemployment from rising. Trump fired McEntarfer the same day, accusing her and the agency of manipulating jobs data to make Republicans look bad and hide Democratic mismanagement of the economy. The president has provided no evidence to support his claim, and BLS veterans from both parties have said that manipulating employment data for political purposes is nearly impossible based on the way the agency calculates it. BLS also frequently makes revisions to employment and inflation reports based on data compiled and received after the reports have already been released. While most economists attribute the scale of recent BLS revisions to post-COVID-19 pandemic issues with data collection and survey response times, Antoni is among a handful pro-Trump economists who've accused BLS of massaging data to protect Democrats and harm Republicans. 'For four years, the Biden administration and its sycophants in the media kept telling Americans that we had the strongest economy in history,' Antoni wrote in a May op-ed published by Townhall, claiming the Labor Department 'admitted' that thousands of jobs added during the prior administration, 'were fake.' 'The financial pain of families was ignored while misleading (and often inaccurate) statistics were paraded on the news to convince Americans not to believe their lying eyes or empty wallets,' he added at the time. Antoni, who contributed to Project 2025 blueprint for Trump's second term, is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate, where he'll only need a majority of votes from the GOP-controlled upper chamber. But his actions at BLS could cast a shadow over the agency's influential reports on employment and inflation — especially if he makes major changes to the frequency or compilation of those reports. Economists across the ideological spectrum have accused Antoni of making misleading and inaccurate claims about the economy to support Trump's policies and criticize Democrats. 'EJ Antoni's commentary on labor statistics has unfortunately been quite poor,' Alan Cole, a senior economist at the conservative Tax Foundation, wrote on social platform X. 'I do not think it's anywhere near the capability or knowledge of e.g. Keith Hall or William Beach, both excellent Republican appointees, the latter of whom was appointed by Trump in his first term.' Kyle Pomerleau, senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said on social media, 'There are a lot of competent conservative economists that could do this job. E.J. is not one of them.'
Fox News
32 minutes ago
- Fox News
From leftist to MAGA Hulk: The turning point
Once a liberal, now the 'MAGA Hulk'—Stephen Davis tells Fox News Digital why he left the Left and never looked back.
