Excess of NOK 10 trillion in net assets

General government net assets increased by NOK 1 160 billion in 2017, according to updated figures from General government, financial assets and liabilities. The increase can mostly be attributed to growth in central government net assets.

High yield in Government Pension Fund Global

Central government assets are predominantly comprised of foreign investments in the Government Pension Fund Global. At the conclusion of 2017, the Fund was valued at NOK 8 488 billion, which constituted more than 80 per cent of total central government net assets. The increase in the Fund’s holdings of equities, fixed income and real estate made up 84 per cent of the state’s total wealth increase.

The Fund’s market value is affected by investment returns, capital inflows and withdrawals, and exchange rate fluctuations. Between the turn of the millennium and 2008, net cash flows from the petroleum sector were the most significant contributor to the Fund’s market value. Even in 2008, a year marked by the crisis in the financial markets, the inflow to the Fund was larger than in any single year in the Fund’s history, while in that same year alone all accumulated investment returns were wiped out. Since then, and together with the steady growth of the Fund, the importance of the revenue from petroleum has diminished, while the contribution of returns on investments and currency movements to the Fund’s market value has increased. For the first time in the Fund’s history, a withdrawal larger than the revenue flow from the petroleum sector was made from the Fund in 2016. A second such withdrawal was made in 2017. 

NOK 1 187 billion in gross debt

General government gross debt, as measured by the Maastricht criteria, increased by 8 per cent in 2017, and is now estimated at NOK 1 187 billion. The debt constitutes 36 per cent of GDP.