bonds set by the ministry of finance. in 2019, the return on the gpfg was 0. 23 percentage point higher than the return on the benchmark index. we arrive at the same figure when we measure the annual excess return over the whole period from 1998 through the third quarter of 2020. one of the areas that has generated a substantial excess return over time is our external equity management. under the strategy plan for 2020 - 2022, the executive board will continue to use external managers in markets and market segments where local knowledge is particularly relevant. after the storting had discussed the white paper on the gpfg in 2019, the ministry gave norges bank permission to invest in unlisted infrastructure for renewable energy. this is reflected in the strategy for the next three years adopted by the executive board. the bank will assess each investment in relation to risk and return. the management of the gpfg is required to be cost - effective. norges bank aims to keep total 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches internal management costs in the period 2020 - 2022 below 0. 05 percent of assets under management. in recent years, the number of norges bank investment management ( nbim ) employees has been reduced and administrative support functions across the bank are being streamlined. the executive board will continue to monitor costs closely. in the course of 2020, the executive board has strengthened the bank's work as advisor to the ministry, in accordance with our new mandate. in this year's white paper, the ministry proposes changes in the composition of the equity benchmark index. the equity allocation to europe will be reduced somewhat over time, and the allocation to north america will be correspondingly increased. this is in line with norges bank's advice. norges bank works systematically to set principles, exercise ownership rights and invest responsibly. our work on responsible investment underpins the objective of the highest possible return. the executive board lays down principles for responsible investment management and is responsible for decisions on the observation and exclusion of companies. norges bank has recently issued a consultation response to the report by the mestad commission assessing the guidelines for the observation and exclusion of companies. the bank views the report as a good starting - point for further development of the gpfg as a responsible investor. norges bank addresses companies, not political conditions in countries. we remark in our consultation response that the gpfg enjoys the advantages of free and open markets, with no particular restrictions

ida wolden bache : time to ease monetary policy is approaching introductory statement by ms ida wolden bache, governor of norges bank ( central bank of norway ), at the press conference following norway's announcement of the policy rate, oslo, 19 september 2024. * * * presentation accompanying the speech chart 1 : policy rate held unchanged the monetary policy and financial stability committee decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4. 5 %. based on the committee's current assessment of the outlook, the policy rate will most likely be kept at that level to the end of the year. norges bank is tasked with keeping inflation low and stable. the operational target is inflation of close to 2 percent over time. we are also mandated to help keep employment as high as possible and to promote economic stability. after inflation surged a couple of years ago, we have raised the policy rate significantly, and since december last year the policy rate has been held at 4. 5 percent. the interest rate has contributed to cooling down the economy and to dampening inflation. many central banks in trading partner countries have started cutting policy rates. one might wonder why we are not reducing the policy rate now. inflation has declined significantly from its peak but is still above our inflation target. the rapid decline in inflation observed in recent months is not expected to continue going forward. further disinflation will be restrained by the krone depreciation combined with the high growth in business costs. a restrictive monetary policy is still needed to bring inflation down to target within a reasonable time horizon. the committee is concerned with the possibility that if the policy rate is lowered prematurely, inflation could remain above target for too long. on the other hand, an overly tight monetary policy could contract the economy more than needed. when we set the policy rate, we have to balance these trade - offs. chart 2 : gradual policy rate reduction from next year based on our current assessment of the outlook, the policy rate needs to be kept at today's level for a period ahead. at the same time, we are approaching the time to lower interest rates. if the economy evolves as envisaged, we will maintain the policy rate at 4. 5 percent to the end of the year, before it is gradually reduced from the first quarter of next year. the policy rate forecast is little changed but implies a slightly faster rate reduction through next year than our previous forecast published in june. let me say a few more words about the background