{"id":571,"date":"2012-07-20T10:38:43","date_gmt":"2012-07-20T10:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebizsense.com\/views\/?p=571"},"modified":"2012-07-20T13:22:36","modified_gmt":"2012-07-20T13:22:36","slug":"currency-haven-for-international-investors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebizsense.com\/views\/business\/currency-haven-for-international-investors","title":{"rendered":"A currency haven for international investors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Norway,<\/a>

Norway, currency haven for international investors<\/p><\/div>\n

Norway, like its Nordic cousins, is a welfare state with high living standards, abundant welfare benefits\u2026 and very high taxes. But it\u2019s the richest member of the Sauna Club, thanks to its wealth of offshore oil and natural gas.<\/p>\n

That bounty has been used wisely, with much of the surplus accumulated in the world\u2019s second largest sovereign wealth fund \u2013 more than $540 billion invested in shares and other assets outside the country.<\/p>\n

Norway stayed out of the European Union and of the Eurozone. It controls its own currency and is free to conduct its own fiscal and monetary policies\u2026 responsibly.<\/p>\n

To control inflationary pressures, with housing prices at all-time highs, the central bank maintains a credit squeeze. Its policy rate of 1.75 per cent is second only to Australia\u2019s in the ranks of industrialized nations.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, in a world of financial crisis, and offering a potent combination of independence, responsible governance, oil wealth and income yield, the country is viewed as a haven by international investors. Its currency, the Norwegian krone or \u201cNokkie,\u201d is seen as an attractive alternative to the euro, against which it has risen strongly over the past three years. There\u2019s said to be \u201coverwhelming\u201d global demand for the currency.<\/p>\n

So\u2026 what lessons can the nations of Europe\u2019s troubled South draw from those of its resilient North?<\/p>\n