These institutions will hold meetings with the representatives on behalf of Norges Bank. Region North is covered by Kunnskapsparken in Bodø. Companies in the north are reporting lower demand and deteriorating profitability. The same tendency can be observed in most industries with the exception of retail trade and construction. The krone exchange rate, combined with a costly wage settlement, has contributed to weakening competitiveness in internationally exposed industries. As a result, demand and turnover in sectors that supply goods and services to this industry have fallen markedly. Retail companies have recorded growth in turnover and solid profits in recent months, and our contacts expect this situation to continue over the next months. Some activity growth is being reported for the construction industry. The increase in activity primarily reflects higher public sector demand. Workforce reductions in both the public sector and manufacturing industry have been reported. More workforce reductions and lay-offs are planned for the period ahead. Developments in the Norwegian economy may prove to be weaker than projected in the October Inflation Report. In spite of the interest rate cuts and a stimulatory central government budget, overall economic policy has been tight because the krone has been strong. The weakening of the krone since January has, however, led to an easing of monetary policy. Several years of deteriorating competitiveness will, nevertheless, have a dampening impact on growth in the period ahead. The business confidence survey for manufacturing industry shows that manufacturing leaders’ sentiments about future developments are negative.

Josef Bonnici: The changing nature of economic and financial governance following the euro area crisis Introductory remarks by Professor Josef Bonnici, Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, at the Malta Financial Services Authority, Attard, 17 January 2013. *  *  *  The success of the European monetary union was always contingent on three considerations. The first requirement is the maintenance of fiscal discipline; the second is effective financial regulation and the third condition is the management and minimization of macroeconomic imbalances. In reality, these requirements were often not met. In fact, there was a general lack of awareness of their importance. For the past several years, the headlines have been dominated by the ramifications of the European crisis, which was first manifested in the banking system and then in sovereign debt markets, and subsequently in the economic slowdown and related problems that followed the introduction of fiscal consolidation. The European Central Bank has engaged in a wide range of policy measures that seek to expand liquidity and restore normal conditions in the banking sector and in the financial markets. These monetary policy measures include conventional or standard measures, which have reduced policy rates to very low levels. In addition the ECB has adopted various non-standard measures, which have included long term refinancing operations that inject ample liquidity into the financial system. The ECB has gone a step further by announcing an Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme.