Norway by 2025. Ministry of Finance.

The Minister of Finance today received the first periodic report of the expert commission assessing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Norwegian economy by 2025.

The commission was established in May this year, but it will present its full final report in the first quarter of 2021.

- The pandemic requires very complex economic measures. The actions we have implemented and the choices we will make in the future will have an impact on the Norwegian economy for a long time. The contribution of the committee will give us an even better basis for making good choices in the long term. This is Finance Minister Jan Tore Sanner speaking.

In a partial report, the commission analyzes the effects of the pandemic to date and highlights several important areas that could be affected by the crisis. The Committee concludes, inter alia, that:

When we decide quickly and implement measures in times of crisis, we need to understand that the effects are not properly adjusted or fully analyzed. What is immediately seen as the most just is compensation for lost income. But society is changing, and it would have changed even if the pandemic had not come. The Commission is also looking to the future and assessing opportunities.

The consequences are particularly severe in the labor market, where young people and those freely linked to the labor market are at risk of permanently withdrawing from the labor market. In the future, there may be a need for targeted measures to help these groups return to work, which the committee will discuss in its further work.

The Norwegian economy is facing challenges that will require adjustment in the coming years. The idea is that both infection control and the financial measures put in place to counter the pandemic should contribute as much as possible to restructuring and to creating a driving force for value growth. The wide-ranging economic measures that have been introduced since the pandemic started include redistribution between generations, as we are now spending a lot of money from the state budget on emergency measures.

To meet the long-term challenges facing the Norwegian economy. Adaptation is necessary in the face of the new economic times. Extensive and long-term selective support measures in sensitive sectors in light of the oil crisis of the XNUMXs. They have caused serious imbalances in public finances.

The Committee points out in particular that temporary crisis measures can have unfortunate results if they are sustained over a long period of time. Because they can prevent restructuring by promoting inactivity instead of innovation. Actions that were right in the first phase of the crisis are not necessarily a recipe for long-term growth. Such measures should be withdrawn relatively early. For example, in the growth phase and earlier than measures that can increase adaptability and development.

This is an important but partial and overall committee report. Now it remains for us to wait for a detailed final report by next year.