XI 190 1954 - Statistisk sentralbyrå

140 Summary.
income of joint stock companies, private
employers and own account workers. This
distribution of the increase in income corresponds
closely to the distribution of earned
incomes in 1953. The distributive shares have
thus remained nearly unchanged. Also private
disposable income, i. e. earned income less
direct taxes plus transfers from Government,
has increased by 1 200 million kroner from
1953 to 1954, as the difference between taxes
and transfers has remained unchanged. Percentagewise,
disposable private income has
increased by 8 per cent. Its distribution has,
however, been changed somewhat in the
favour of joint stock companies and other
enterprises. While personal income taxes etc.
paid in 1954 were 100 million kroner above
those of 1953, taxes paid by joint stock companies
and larger personal firms have declined
somewhat owing to their rather low incomes
in 1953. In considering the changes in income
it should also be kept in mind that the number
of salary and wage earners has gone up by
2.5 per cent, while the number of selfemployed
persons has declined.
Direct taxes have been somewhat lower in
1954 than in the preceding years. The state
income tax for the fiscal year 1953/54 was
substantially modified. By this reform taxpayers
in lower income groups - about 30
per cent of the total number a year before -
were exempted from income tax to the central
government. No significant changes were
made in the municipal income tax. On the
other hand, indirect taxes, the most important
being the general sales tax of 10 per cent,
have gone up sowewhat owing to the increase
in total sales value. The indirect taxes to the
central government in 1954 amounted to 2 700
million kroner, of which 1 250 derived from the
general sales tax. The direct taxes paid to
the central government were slightly above
1 000 million kroner, and to the municipalities
2 000 million kroner. The latter are not levying
any indirect taxes of importance.
Average wages and salaries have increased
by about 5 per cent in 1954. For workers
outside the lowest wage groups the increases
in wage rates have been rather small. For
large groups of workers, however, the revision
of wage tariffs in 1954 has established compensation
for sickness owing to work accidents
and payment for certain holidays. To some
extent wages have «slided» upwards also in
1954, and there has been a transfer of workers
from lower to better paid jobs.
The increase in wage income has been
somewhat greater than the increase in the
indices of consumer prices. A certain improvement
in the real incomes of wage earners
has thus taken place. Also, the real income of
self-employed persons has probably risen.
Rough calculations indicate that the personal
disposable income for all groups has increased
by 7 per cent, while the rise in prices of consumer
goods according to the two indices
available has been 2.5-4 per cent . This development
has made possible an increase in the
total private consumption of a little more th an
3 per cent.
The increase in consumer demand has
resulted in a comparatively high increase in
the import of consumption goods. A rather
large share of the increased consumer expenditures
has been for imported finished goods
and for travel abroad. The effects of the
increase in domestic production of consumer
goods on imports of raw materials and semifinished
goods are not known, but t hey are
probably quite significant.
The deficit on the balance of foreign payments
for 1954 is also due to a very high level
of investment. Gross investment during the
last two years has been approximately 35
per cent of the gross national product In constant
prices gross investment in fixed capital
has gone up by nearly 7 per cent from 1953
to 1954. A large share of the increase in expenditures
for investment during the later years
has been for capital goods from abroad. This
is to a large extent due to heavy investments
in the merchant marine. With the high level
of investment now prevailing, imports have,
however, been large also for building materials
and certain types of capital goods, where
domestic production under more normal conditions
would be sufficient. In addition, the
Norwegian manufacturing industries, producing
capital goods, use a rather large share
of imported raw materials and semi-finished
goods.
In order to decrease the foreign deficit in
1954 the Government aimed at a reduction in
domestic investment. Duty exemptions for
some types of imported machinery were suspended
at the beginning of the year in order
to limit the demand for investment goods from
abroad. Imports of machinery have, however,
increased in spite of this measure. The Government
had also aimed at reducing building
activities by cutting down the volume of
cheap credit through the state banks for
housing loans. This measure had little effect
on the level of building activities in 1954, but
the number of housing starts has declined.
A certain reduction in the volume of building
activity may therefore be expected in 1955.
The Government had also attempted to limit
private investment through a more restrained
monetary policy. In order to check lending by