Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg warns that the country's oil reserves is not a guarantee that an economic crisis will not reach Norway.
Original author:
The Norway Post
Published: 06.08.2012
Although the Prime Minister says he is not losing any sleep over the Euro crisis, he is still concerned about preparing Norway for a potential crisis.
"In the 90s, Norway experienced a banking crisis, a debt crisis and high unemployment. And we had revenue from oil. It's naive to think that the oil money will always be able to save us," Stoltenberg says.
He is worried that if the Euro-zone doesn't succeed in saving the Euro, it will create a very difficult situation. "We risk that millions of people lose their jobs and their savings," he tells VG.
Stoltenberg explains that the problem in many European countries is that they have spent too much money, and have no funds left to inject when problems arise. Although we are not immune to a crisis, he says that Norway is well prepared, and that we have a history of showing responsibility when it comes to money and saving.
"We can act quickly. We have prepared an emergency response and are following the situation closely," Stoltenberg informs. "But we are not in a situation now where I want to alert people about what those measures are."