Morning Briefing – Monday, September 9

The Copenhagen Post’s daily round-up of the front pages and other major Danish news stories

Sep 9, 2013

And then there were three
After over a year hearing testimony from 44 witnesses, the special investigators in the so-called Taxgate Commission say they are close to identifying the person who leaked PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s tax information to the press in 2011 on the eve of the general election. The tribunal has identified then-tax-minister Troels Lund Poulsen (Venstre), his advisor Peter Arnfeldt and permanent Tax Ministry secretary Peter Loft as the three primary suspects. The Copenhagen Police are already investigating Arnfeldt’s role in the leak. Arnfeldt has voluntarily turned over his telephone records to the police, while Loft says he is willing to do the same. – Berlingske

For banks, recession’s end in sight
Five years after the recession took hold in Denmark, banks appear to be on the verge of better times, say finance industry analysts. Banks’ first-half financial reports for 2013 were better than in previous years, and an improving global economy should boost their performance even further. Small banks also report they had twice as many new customers in the first half of the year than in the same period in recent years. – Berlingske Business

Hidden growth potential
Businesses themselves hold part of the key to an economic recovery, according to a report from Nykredit bank. Inventories are ten percent lower than their 20-year average, the report found. Boosting production to increase inventories could add three percentage points to economic growth next year, the report found. Lower investment levels over the past five years has also seen companies’ liquidity rise to 170 million kroner. Should they choose to spend that money on new production equipment, it would add one percentage point to economic growth, according to Nykredit. – Erhverv & Økonomi

Maritime businesses steaming towards growth
Businesses in the largest sector of the nation’s economy say they are gearing up for growth. Two-thirds of maritime-related businesses, which employ about 115,000 people, expect to hire more people in Denmark in the coming year, while 80 percent say they can see new growth opportunities. Many firms indicated the market was still soft, but said they were making investments in the expectation that a recovery was close at hand. – Børsen

Bureaucracy costs an hour a day
Public sector employees use an hour of each day on bureaucratic tasks such as documenting their work, according to the union FTF. A poll of the union’s members, who mainly work in the public sector, shows that half use between one and two hours on bureaucratic tasks. Fifteen percent said they used more than two hours, and all of the bureaucracy amounts to a combined total of 60 million hours annually. The results come ahead of publication of a report by Produktivietetskommissionen, a government-seated panel charged with looking at ways to improve productivity, containing recommendations for eliminating public sector paperwork. – Politiken

Fewer inmates granted furloughs
A decreasing number of inmates are being granted permission to attend school or take work outside of prison walls in preparation for their return to society. Kriminalforsorgen, which operates the nation’s prisons, found that despite a stable prison population – about 2,400 individuals nationwide – the number of those granted furloughs to work or study had declined 27 percent since 2003. The change comes after a 2002 law required inmates to serve half of their term before they could be considered for furloughs. Previously, inmates needed to serve a third of their term. Criminal justice specialists said inmates now have a harder time finding a programme they can complete before their release. A tougher approach to inmates who violate prison rules has also resulted in more being denied furloughs. – Information