Resource-Rich Country #3: Land of the Midnight Sun Norway is rich in natural resources with natural gas fields, hydro-power capacity and an abundance of forests, minerals and fish. The extensive coastline on the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea contributes to Norway’s current position as the second-largest exporter of seafood behind China. As the world’s fifth-largest crude oil exporter Norway has seen export revenues from crude oil and natural gas rise to 45% of total exports. The petroleum industry accounts for more than 20% of the country’s GDP. Norwegians enjoy the second-highest GDP per capita (after Luxembourg) mainly due to the massive crude oil revenues the country sees each year. Those crude oil revenues have contribute to the international reserve assets and gold worth of NOK$297,523 million (US$49,078 million). Large reserves of foreign currency allow the Norwegian government to manipulate exchange rates — usually to stabilize the foreign exchange rates to provide a more favorable economic environment. In order to access Resource-Rich Country #6, you will need to sign up for the broadcast! Norway's Key Economic Investment OutlookIn mid-December 2009 Norges Bank’s Executive Board reduced key policy rates by 1.75 percentage points to 3%. At a low, Norway cut rates to 1.5%. Since then, Norway has followed Australia and begun to raise rates again holding steady at 2% since May 2010. Sign up for the Hot Commodities Guide to learn more about these economic measures.    |
