Government plans to diversify the economy come under fire Reducing Norway’s oil dependency and living up to campaign promises is proving a costly affair for Prime Minister Erna Solberg. With just eight months to go before Norwegians head to the ballot box, signs that western Europe’s biggest crude producer is building up viable alternatives to its oil industry remain scarce. Struggling to keep up output after 40 years of production, and hammered by the worst plunge in oil prices in a generation, Solberg’s government saw its plans laid to waste soon after taking power, in 2013. To promote a more diversified economy, her Conservative Party has so far focused on cutting taxes and boosting public spending, thanks in no small part to the country’s vast kitty of… oil money. The government plans to withdraw money for a second consecutive year from the $880 billion wealth fund and spend 226 […]