| The Government Pension Fund of Norway, the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, has built up a $1.34bn (€1.19bn) stake in Irish companies. The $916bn fund, which is financed by the sale of the country's vast oil and gas reserves, has invested in 24 different Irish companies.
Norway is western Europe's biggest oil exporter and levels up to 80pc tax rates on the profits from the sale of its oil and gas reserves. The fund, which is often referred to as the Oil Fund, invests abroad to avoid stoking inflation and pushing up interest rates and the krone. The largest of the fund's Irish investments is a $486m stake in Smurfit Kappa, giving it control of a tenth of the paper and packaging business...............................................Full Article: Source
|