April 15 (Reuters) – Norway’s $2.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, does not intend to shed U.S. assets despite concerns over the Middle East war and mounting U.S. debt, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told the Financial Times on Wednesday.
“There have been some questions (about) ‘should we reduce?’ That’s a political decision,” Stoltenberg told the FT, adding he does not foresee any big changes.
Earlier on Wednesday at a Semafor event in Washington, Stoltenberg said the fund plans to continue to be a big investor in U.S. companies and to have roughly half of its investments there, “because the American stock market is so dynamic and reflects the strength of the U.S. economy.”
Stoltenberg’s comments come during a U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that has disrupted economies globally, sent oil prices surging and created uncertainty across markets.
Last year, the fund drew concern from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration after it sold its stake in U.S. construction equipment group Caterpillar due to the company’s supply to Israel of bulldozers used in Gaza and the West Bank.
Stoltenberg had then said the fund did not want to “politicise” individual decisions and that U.S. authorities are well aware of its ethics guidelines.
(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Rod Nickel)
