Norway slows oil spending to cool currency
Oil rich nation wants to slow economy to help exporters
Norway's government says it will spend less of its oil wealth in an effort to avoid excessive economic growth, which has been boosting the national currency, hurting exporters.
The Finance Ministry says its use of oil income will be cut by 6 billion kroner ($1 billion) from the 122 billion kroner ($21 billion) approved last year for the 2012 budget.
The ministry said in a statement Tuesday that spending by businesses and households was "high" and it was sticking to its 2.75 per cent forecast for economic growth this year. Growth next year is expected to reach 3 per cent.
Norway enjoys huge wealth from its oil sector, but cannot spend it all domestically for fear of overheating the economy. Unemployment is expected to stay at 3.25 per cent this year, far below the 10.2 per cent registered in the 27-member European Union in March.