Norway is ready to spend its way through the drop in oil prices. The plunge in crude prices is squeezing the economy of western Europe’s biggest oil producer, driving up unemployment and threatening to halt growth . The government has already boosted spending to record levels and will this year tap the nation’s $810 billion sovereign wealth fund for the first time. It could dig even deeper next year. “This will not be a tighter budget,” Finance Minister Siv Jensen said in an e-mailed reply to questions. The government will start drafting next year’s budget this month. “We’re going to spend more money to create more businesses and more jobs.” The minority government is on Tuesday meeting with the smaller Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats to gather support for its priorities as it lays the groundwork for 2017 fiscal spending. Rising unemployment will be high on the agenda, […]