HIGHLIGHTS: Jens Stoltenberg

Hi everybody, tune in to this short version of the podcast, which we do every Friday. For the long version, tune in on Wednesdays. Hi everyone, I'm Nikola Tanjen, the CEO of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, and today I'm really excited because I'm here with a guest who has defined the last 30 years of Norway's place in the world. So warm welcome to Jens Soltenberg. Thank you so much for having me.

Now, um, you created the fiscal rule uh that turned Norway's own money into the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. You've been Prime Minister twice, you led NATO for 10 years, uh, and now you are back as finance minister running the fund you helped create. Uh so very, very interesting. It is a fascinating history and of course there have been many decisions making this fund possible, but actually when I was when I became finance minister 30 years ago in 1996, that was the year we made the first installment into the fund and since then I've followed the fund very closely. There's been some pretty big calls done here.

So one to save the revenues, invest in in equities, and then of course you also have the the spending rule. So what do you think are the most important ones? And were they obvious at the time? No, all of them were politically controversial. And I think what we have learned in Norway is that when you when when you if you want to make or to create a sovereign wealth fund, you have to make three important political decisions.

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