Norway's oil wealth fund suffers worst period last year

STOCKHOLM, March 11 (Chinese media) -- Norway's central bank Norges bank announced Wednesday that the country's oil wealth fund had suffered the worst period in 2008, according to reports reaching here from Oslo.

During last year, the fund lost 633 billion kroner (about 90 billion U.S. dollars) on investment, when measured in a basket of international currencies. The return on the fund was minus 23.3 percent in international currency, the weakest result in the fund's history, said Norges bank in an annual report 2008 of the fund.

However, the size of the fund was growing in 2008. The market value of the fund was 2275 billion kroner (about 325 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of last year. Inflows of capital into the fund were record-high at 384 billion kroner (about 54.8 billion U.S. dollars), said the report, adding that the fund's ownership of global equity markets rose to 0.77 percent.

It also pointed out that the financial crisis and global economic downturn presented major challenges for all areas of investment management. Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) is making significant changes to its investment strategy in order to make better use of the fund's size and long-term investment horizon.

Norway's oil fund, which has changed name to state pension fund, is one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds. It was created in the 1990s to help finance the country's welfare state.