Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg took a break from his government election campaign on Monday, and met with CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Baknfein, one of the world's most powerful businessmen.
"It is always interesting to hear Blankfein's views on the world economy because he is so close to the action. Norway is a small, open economy that is very dependent on what happens internationally," Stoltenberg told the press.
However, many people blame Goldman Sachs for being one of the main drivers behind the financial crisis when it hit in 2008, through the company's aggressive sales of bad mortgages.
Blankfein on the other hand thinks that the world economy is in a much better position now than a year back. On Monday he gave Stoltenberg and the government praise for maintaining the fiscal rule when it comes to Norway's sovereign wealth funnd in a time when there is a lot of pressure from the opposition. The fiscal rule states that over time, only four percent of the capital kept in the oil fund should be spent in order to preserve other aspects of the Norwegian economy.
The Government Pension Fund Global (the oil fund) owns 0,47 percent of Goldman Sachs, a value estimated at NOK 1,6 billion. In total, the fund's value is more than NOK 4500 billion.
"It is absolutely exceptional how Norway resists the temptation to use up the oil money. It says a lot about the political leadership, but also about the character of the people. The thought that the wealth should belong to and last for many generations ahead is unique in our world history," Blankfein tells DN.
(DN/NTB)
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