department of education to include in the curriculum of grade school students basic topics on savings and money management. concluding remarks to conclude, governance is a reflection of the values of individuals within an institution. the initiatives we have started to promote good governance are only as good as the people observing them. this is similar to the art of making ceramics. different potters shaping the clay will come out with different interpretations of the same pattern, although each one of them followed the same process and used the same tools. the challenge for us, in this case, is to ensure that the potters have the skills, the right values and perspective in shaping the delicate piece of art. thank you and good day.

return to its normal range following periods when the krone has been particularly strong or particularly weak. the real exchange rate the real exchange rate may be measured in a number of ways, for example, by relative consumer prices and relative labour costs between norway and its trading partners, measured in a common currency. the real exchange rate measured by relative labour costs in a common currency is an expression of the cost competitiveness of norwegian companies. the real exchange rate measured in terms of developments in relative prices is an expression of the norwegian krone ’ s purchasing power. the real exchange rate has fluctuated considerably over time and has deviated substantially from the average level since 1970 over longer periods. nevertheless, there has been a tendency for the real exchange rate to revert to this level. relative prices in a common currency are now approximately 2 per cent lower than the average since 1970. 4 relative labour costs in a common currency are approximately 3. 5 per cent higher than the historical average. as mentioned, high wage growth over a period of several years starting in 1998 eroded the competitiveness of the norwegian business sector. even though the krone has depreciated since 2002, the competitiveness of norwegian companies is still fairly weak due to the high cost level. the nominal krone exchange rate has now reverted to around the level prevailing in the mid - 1990s, while labour costs in manufacturing have risen considerably more than among our trading partners in the same period. asymmetric cyclical developments cyclical developments in norway and other countries have been divergent. this was most pronounced in the 1980s when we had a strong upturn while europe was in a recession. even though business cycles have gradually become somewhat more synchronised, there is still a time lag. while the global turnaround took place in 2000, with a subsequent reduction in interest rates abroad, the norwegian economy continued to show a high level of activity. towards the end of the upturn, the economy was facing labour shortages, accelerating wage growth as well as a sharp increase in household consumption and debt. interest rates in norway were kept high and the interest rate differential gradually widened. cyclical developments in norway have also differed in other ways from developments in other countries. the expansionary period in norway led to strong wage growth from 1998 to 2002. the upturn in the global economy at the end of the 1990s was largely driven by business investment, and wage growth was moderate. on the other hand, wage growth in the norwegian business sector from 1998 to