Norway's Storting passes revised budget with defence tax rise and ship tunnel funding

The Storting unanimously approved a revised national budget that raises the long‑term defence plan's budget to 1,854 billion NOK. The increase is to be financed by higher taxes on the wealthy, a proposal championed by the Red Party (Rødt). The governing parties – Labour, Centre, Socialist Left, Red and Green – agreed that the additional defence spending and continued Ukraine aid will not cut welfare programmes.

The budget also earmarks 150 million NOK for further planning of the controversial Stad ship tunnel. Chief economist Harald Magnus Andreassen of Sparebank 1 Markets called the decision “tragic”, noting that extensive assessments concluded the tunnel “is not worth the money” and saying the inclusion reflects weak fiscal discipline. The overall budget overspend of 5.6 billion NOK is not expected to affect Norges Bank’s interest‑rate outlook.