Tight budget proposed for 2003

Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss (photo) on Thursday presented the government's proposed budget for 2003, - a tight budget with a real growth of only 0.5 per cent. Tax cuts amount to only NOK 600 million, and there are no cuts in the surtax on alcohol or electricity. The budget for development aid will be increased to 0.93 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP).Total budget expenditure for next year is NOK 580 billion. Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss (photo) on Thursday presented the government's proposed budget for 2003, - a tight budget with a real growth of only 0.5 per cent. Tax cuts amount to only NOK 600 million, and there are no cuts in the surtax on alcohol or electricity.-The national budget is made up with the lowest growth in expenditure since the middle 90s, the Finance Minister said in his presentation to Parliament. -High wage growth and a strong Norwegian currency have weakened Norwegian export industry's ability to compete, Foss said. In his opinion the proposed budget dampens the pressure on the interest and the currency rate. However, the proposal calls for using an extra NOK 2 billion from the oil income. This means that next year, NOK 30.7 billion from the oil income will be needed to balance the budget. Income tax will be reduced through increasing the lower limit for surtax on higher incomes, from NOK 320,000 to 340,000. According to the government, this will mean that 135,000 fewer taxpayers will pay surtax on higher incomes next year. The government also proposed to lower the value of homes for tax purposes by 5 per cent. The proposal also calls for the transfer of an extra NOK 1.7 billion in state funds to kindergartens, resulting in an average monthly fee of NOK 2,500 per child from August 1st. There will also be an increase in the cash support for parents who stay home to look after their small children by NOK 657 a month. The budget for development aid will be increased by NOK 856 billion. This means that the budget for foreign aid reaches 0.93 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP). There will also be more money for public transport, particularly ion the bigger cities. (NRK) Rolleiv Solholm