Weekly economics overview
10% of new EU funding allocated for CO2 neutrality goes to Denmark. Considering there are 27 member states in the European Union, this is a significant win for Denmark. 3.5 billion DKK will go to seven projects. Among the projects is a factory to produce green fuel (e-methanol) in Padborg.
- 1.6 billion DKK will go towards the Aalborg Portland cement factory for a project to capture and store CO2. The company aims for zero emissions by 2030. Aalborg Portland is Denmark’s absolute largest single emitter of CO2 with 1.7 million tons per year.
Multiple coastal municipalities are too poor to build the necessary defenses against great floods. For example, Kerteminde and Lolland. They asked the state to intervene and support the coastal areas. The government responded that a climate adaptation plan is coming soon and the burden for building flood defenses in the coastal areas will be shared between the state, municipalities, and landowners.
77,738 pension-aged people are still working. An increase of 18.9% compared to last year. In fact, 57% of those close to retirement are considering continuing working during the pension years. Why? Since January 2023, a new law ensures that one’s pension is not affected by the income of the spouse / cohabitant. Plus other measures that increase the employment deductions, making it more attractive to continue working.
Focus
How to prepare for your first meeting with the bank when you are asking for a mortgage loan: Typically, the bank can offer you a loan that is up to four times your annual income and with a 5% down payment if you are an EU citizen. This means an 80% mortgage loan, 15% bank loan, and 5% cash. If you can afford more than 5% cash, then you can either get a higher mortgage or take a smaller bank loan.
- The bank can refuse a mortgage loan if they notice that you do not have a history of saving at least part of your income. If you tend to burn through all your money every month, it will be difficult for them to trust you with a loan. They usually look back at the last 6–12 months to see your spending habits.
- Your debts count towards the maximum amount you can borrow from the bank. This means that the amount is decreased by the total debt, be that another loan for a car or SU debt, etc. If you have troubles with the debt agency due to unpaid debts, usually it can mean a direct refusal from the bank.
- Contact at least three different banks to get mortgage loan offers. Ensure that they work with different mortgage institutions. For example, if they all work with Totalkredit, the loan offer will be the same.
- From reports we received from our readers, it seems that for non-Europeans, they usually ask for up to a 20% downpayment.
Despite low quality and warnings about the dangerous chemicals used in their products, Temu has become the most used webshop in Denmark. How can Temu be so cheap? First, they sell products directly from factories in China to the customer. As they call themselves just an intermediary platform, they avoid EU regulations regarding product safety. Second, it is cheap for companies to send from China to Denmark as there is a discount on delivery via the postal services.
