reported a further fall in credit demand among non - financial corporations in 2009 q2. credit demand in the enterprise sector is expected to stabilise in q3. household credit demand was approximately unchanged in q2, while banks expect increased household credit demand ahead. financial market turbulence since summer 2007 resulted in a sharp increase in interest rates, reaching a peak in 2009 q1. premiums have decreased substantially since then, but are perhaps not yet fully normalised. bank lending rates on loans to enterprises averaged 8 per cent at their highest in 2008 and have now moved down to 4¾ per cent, although margins have also increased here. norges bank ’ s executive board decided in june that the key policy rate should be in the interval ¾ - 1¾ per cent in the period to the publication of the next monetary policy report on 28 october 2009, unless the norwegian economy is exposed to new major shocks. in the assessment forming the basis for its monetary policy decision of 23 september, the executive board placed emphasis on underlying inflation, which is now below the inflation target. the krone has appreciated and will, in conjunction with continued low imported inflation, contribute to keeping inflation below target in the year ahead. this suggests that the key policy rate should be kept low for a period ahead. growth in the norwegian economy has picked up at a more rapid pace than was expected a few months ago. high activity in the oil industry and monetary and fiscal policy measures have contributed to supporting demand for goods and services. employment is stable and it appears that unemployment will be considerably lower than expected, despite the decline in manufacturing and the building and construction industry. low interest rates are contributing to renewed growth in household consumption. higher capacity utilisation and low productivity growth may increase upward pressure on costs, pointing towards somewhat higher inflation and suggesting that the key policy rate should be raised earlier than projected in the june monetary policy report. on balance, it was appropriate to keep the key policy rate unchanged at this meeting, although the executive board considered the alternative of increasing the key policy rate. thank you for your attention.

svein gjedrem : the outlook for the norwegian economy address by mr svein gjedrem, governor of norges bank ( central bank of norway ), for norges bank ’ s regional network, region east, oslo, 25 september 2009. * * * please note that the text below may differ slightly from the actual presentation. the speech is based on the assessments presented at norges bank ’ s press conference following the executive board ’ s monetary policy meeting on 23 september and monetary policy report 2 / 09. it has been a year since financial turbulence developed into a full - blown crisis. the result was the most severe downturn in the global economy since the second world war. key rates were set at historically low levels both in norway and abroad. government spending has increased considerably to support demand for goods and services. global economic activity is now picking up, albeit from a very low level, and unemployment is high. financial market conditions have improved, although liquidity remains tight in many markets. the financial crisis eroded confidence in banks, counterparties and contractual partners. access to export credit came to a halt, international trade slowed sharply and manufacturing sales stalled. with financial markets improving over the past six months and an increase in the credit supply, global trade is now picking up slightly. manufacturing output has recently increased in the us, the uk, japan and many emerging economies, while it continues to fall – albeit at a slower pace – in sweden and the euro area. growth in public demand, stronger confidence in financial markets and low key rates are fuelling investment abroad. even though the global economic situation now seems to have stabilised, there is still a risk of continued low growth for a fairly long period ahead. the severe downturn and fall in commodity prices has led to very low or negative consumer price inflation in many countries. inflation is still moving down and is now negative in for instance the us, the euro area, sweden, japan and china. core inflation is more stable, but has also shown a slight decline recently. the current low level of activity and high unemployment will also act as a brake on inflation in the period ahead. one characteristic of the crisis was the substantial increase in money market rates. confidence between banks evaporated. banks reacted by raising interest rates on loans to businesses and households. they started to turn off the lending tap. measures implemented by central banks and governments have had a stabilising effect. the most important markets have also gradually become less disorderly,