Greenland’s economy nose-diving

A report issued on Tuesday by the independent advisory committee on Greenland’s economy is telling the home rule government to cut taxes and find new investments as a first aid measure.

“Greenland’s economy is in the midst of a crisis,” Christen Sørensen of the University of Southern Denmark told the Copenhagen Post.

Greenland should kick-start investment to revive the region’s ailing economy, as long as these investments don’t mean additional operating costs. These investments could include public housing projects, with future tenants footing the bill for maintenance or sewage system costs.

Greenland’s annual growth rate expressed as Gross National Product has fallen from 7.8 per cent a year in 1998 to minus 1.5 per cent in 2001.

The committee forecast this year’s GNP would be zero to one per cent.