Mo Yan arrives at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm. (Photo/Agencies)
Chinese overseas scholars and students congratulate Mo Yan’s winning Nobel Literature Prize at Gallerian in Stockholm in Sweden on December 5. (Photo/Sina Weibo)
Mo Yan (front), this year's winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, arrives at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, as he is to leave for Sweden to accept the award, Dec. 5, 2012. (Photo/Xinhua)
Mo Yan (front), this year's winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, arrives at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, as he is to leave for Sweden to accept the award, Dec. 5, 2012. (Photo/Xinhua)Nobel Foundation to award in Swedish kronor
By Yuan Yue, Sina English
The Nobel Foundation has decided to award the winners in Swedish kronor, following a decade of poor returns, exacerbated by the onset of the global financial crisis.
"We have decided to award the winners in kronor because this currency is now on a rise," says Lars Heikensten, executive director of the Nobel Foundation when interviewed by a Chinese newspaper.
"We are trying our best to keep the value of our prize stable." he added. The foundation had 2.97 billion kronor ($448 million) in investments at the end of 2011, corresponding to an 18 percent slump from its 2007 level, according to its website.
The decline prompted a cut in this year’s prize amount to 8 million kronor, from 10 million kronor to safeguard Nobel’s capital.
At this stage, the Nobel Foundation is planning to invest more money through hedge funds to boost its returns and restore the award to its previous size.
The Chinese Nobel Prize winner in Literature Mo Yan, as a consequence, will be awarded over 20% less compared with last year.