A UK sovereign wealth fund partly bankrolled by the proceeds of fracking is being considered by ministers as part of plans to invest in businesses and drive economic growth.
Officials have drawn up plans for a Norway-style state-backed fund that would also accept investments from pension schemes and would focus on backing long-term projects.
It could be used for national infrastructure investment and to drive growth in the Government’s new “investment zones”, while also providing the Treasury with access to cheaper credit as interest rates rise.
The entire point of a sovereign wealth fund being to not spend it in the domestic economy for fear of Dutch Disease.
And why provide the Treasury with cheaper credit if we could, instead, just pay the tax money to the Treasury and spend it?
Twats.
Nope, not like Norway at all..
But it’s interesting… Especially the idea of disincentivising even contemplating to start a fracking operation even more than the insanely strict “environmental rules” and the dependency on “local goodwill” already do…
(and there’s always the good old sign on the
cellar doorSpare Archive entrance stating certain caution regarding exotic felines is strongly advised when entering. )It’s almost as if *shock, horror* the “Officials” that drew up these plans don’t want fracking to happen. But that would be Paranoïd, innit?
Channelling pension monies into long-term infrastructure projects? Has the seat of government moved to Ely?
I’m not entirely clear why Norway is suddenly being touted example of all that’s wonderful. Yes, it has a very large sovereign wealth fund, but it is also highly-taxed, hugely expensive and its infrastructure isn’t exactly gleaming.
@MC
Shouldn’t they be paying us all reparations for historical raping,slavery and pillaging etc?
I thought it had not been proved that fracking was financially impractical.
@Starfish You really want to look at Denmark for that one..
What we now call Norway was an occupied territory that the Danes had nicked from the Swedes. With the Norwegians having little say in the matter.
Nordic relations are still a bit ..tricky.. because of that one..
See also the lovely “inclusive” relation between Saxons and Angles before …the Norse beat the Norse fighting the Norse invading from the Nor..th.
1066 it was, famous bit of embroidery about it.