INTERVIEW-Norway's wealth fund to lift emerging mkt exposure

SINGAPORE, July 8 (Reuters) - Norway's almost $400 billion sovereign wealth fund wants to increase its exposure to emerging markets and Asia as it aims for a long-term real return of 4 percent a year, said a finance ministry official on Tuesday.

Martin Skancke, director-general at Norway's Ministry of Finance, told Reuters the government fund wants to invest five percent of its equities portfolio in secondary emerging markets such as Egypt and Peru.

He said it remains to be seen how much market contagion from U.S. economic woes will affect the rest of the world.

"Even though growth in the U.S. probably will be affected by the (market) adjustment, there seems to be healthy growth in some other parts of the world at least," Skancke said in an interview ahead of a meeting of sovereign wealth funds in Singapore.

The Government Pension Fund -- Global, known as the "oil fund", invests Norway's oil wealth in foreign stocks and bonds to save for future generations. It is shifting to a 60 percent allocation in stocks from 40 percent, and held 48 percent in equities at the end of the first quarter. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar, editing by Neil Chatterjee)