Economy

ECB vs. inflation
ECB chief earns 56 percent more than official figure

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde's actual compensation is 56 percent higher than the salary that the ECB openly reports, according to Financial Times calculations.

In total, her compensation landed at 726,000 euros, equivalent to 7.8 million kronor, for 2024. The calculation is based on all compensation: base salary, benefits, salary from BIS, one-off payments and transfers.

For comparison, this is almost four times more than Fed chief Jerome Powell and more than twice as much as Riksbank governor Erik Thédeen, who, according to the Althing, had a monthly salary of 270,000 kronor.

Fabio De Masi from the left-wing populist party BSW calls it “scandalous” that Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing gives the public more information about his compensation than “Madame Lagarde”.

“The ECB president and highest-paid EU official should represent the gold standard for accountability,” he says.

The ECB declines to comment on the FT’s calculations. The central bank states that the salary was set by a remuneration committee and its council “at the start of the ECB in 1998” and that the only change since then has been the annual salary adjustment.

Tesla's future
Continued collapse for Tesla in Sweden

The registration of Tesla cars continues to plummet in the Swedish market. In December, 821 new cars were registered in Sweden, which corresponds to a 71 percent drop year-on-year, according to recent figures from Mobility Sweden.

The share of newly registered electric cars increased to 36.5 percent from 35 percent year-on-year. Plug-in hybrids increased to 26.7 percent compared to 23.4 percent last year, the highest share ever. 

Norwegian growth
The Norwegian Petroleum Fund's bill has increased sharply under Tangen

The Norwegian Petroleum Fund's costs have increased sharply under Nicolai Tangen's leadership, reports Dagens Næringsliv.

Since 2020, expenses have risen by an average of 11 percent per year – at the same rate as the fund's increase in value – and are expected to amount to 8.5 billion Norwegian kroner this year. The number of employees has increased by around 35 percent during the same period.

In 2025 alone, costs are expected to increase by 16 percent, according to a forecast that the Petroleum Fund recently sent to the Norwegian Ministry of Finance. This is despite Tangen saying in the Storting this spring that the number of employees "will not increase any further".

In an email response, Nicolai Tangen points to currency effects as one of several reasons for the increase, as well as more demanding management. 

Political situation in Thailand
Breaking the trend: Tourism is declining in Thailand

For the first time in a decade, tourism to Thailand has declined, international media reports. The country received almost 33 million tourists, which is 7.2 percent less than the previous year.

According to Traveltourworld, the decline is due to several factors: including natural disasters, political instability and the kidnapping of a Chinese celebrity.

– Security concerns and the strength of the baht are the main factors that affected tourist arrivals, says Adith Chairattananon, secretary-general of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, to Bloomberg.