Norway to Fight Record Household Debt Load as Government Formed

Norway’s new government, formed yesterday after two weeks of talks, plans to offer tax breaks to encourage consumers to set aside savings in an effort to help the nation deal with its record household debt burden.

“I don’t think that we have too large of a private debt problem in Norway but we will create tax relief on savings,” Erna Solberg, leader of the Conservative Party and incoming prime minister after winning the Sept. 9 election, said yesterday in an interview after agreeing to form a minority coalition with the anti-tax Progress Party. “The policy will be to get more people saving for the future.”