OSLO (Reuters) -Norway’s Labour Party government plans to spend more than originally planned from the country’s sovereign wealth fund in 2025 to pay for increased support to Ukraine and other priorities, it said in a proposal to parliament on Thursday.
Cash spending from the $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund is now expected to reach 542.4 billion Norwegian crowns ($52.19 billion) this year, up from 460.1 billion originally planned last October, the government said in a revised fiscal budget.
“Uncertainty is high, and the risk of a global economic downturn has increased,” the government said in a statement.
Parliament in March agreed to more than double its financial pledge to Ukraine this year to help the country in its fight against the Russian invasion, and Thursday’s spring budget bill formalised the spending.
In its budget, the Norwegian government also cut its forecast for economic growth (non-oil GDP) outside the oil industry to 1.8% in 2025 from a previous estimate in March of 2.0%.
($1 = 10.3926 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche and Essi Lehto)
