OSLO (Europe) – Consumer confidence in Norway has dropped to a four-year low in the second quarter.
This can be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic causing an unemployment surge and a sharp oil price decline.
However, the decline was lesser than feared, owing to the rapid intervention by authorities to improve the economy, according to FNO Chief Executive Idar Kreutzer.
The index stood at minus 7.6 points in the May 7-14 survey, the weakest since the second quarter of 2016, down from a revised 4.7 points in the first quarter.
Norway’s borders remain closed to most travel. However, curbs have been eased since the partial lockdown which began on March 12 to halt the coronavirus spread, followed by interest rate cuts and extra fiscal spending.
“Expansive monetary policy and government support measures, in combination with powerful fiscal stimulus, probably made the decline in confidence more moderate than it would otherwise have been.”
– Idar Kreutzer, FNO Chief Executive
Crude oil price, Norway’s biggest export revenue source, has dropped by half since early 2020 and the oil and gas industry has cut investment and other spending.
(Photo syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.