A Different View on Public Debt: The Government as Financial Investor
14 Pages Posted: 17 Apr 2012
Date Written: April 1, 2004
Abstract
The paper by Gjersem notes that in Norway revenues from the petroleum sector have reached their peak and will slowly dwindle over the coming decades while, at the same time, population ageing will put an upward pressure on pension and health care costs (as in most other OECD countries). Against this background, the author examines the case for pre-funding and saving in the Norwegian public sector and discusses the working of the Petroleum Fund. The latter was established in 1990 to enhance the transparency of the spending of petroleum revenues and to finance the accumulation of assets to be used to meet long-term challenges related to the demographic development. Gijersem describes the structure of the Fund, its investments and financial results.
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