ida wolden bache : policy rate kept on hold 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, 3 may 2024. * * * presentation accompanying the speech chart : policy rate kept unchanged at 4. 5 percent the monetary policy and financial stability committee has decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4. 5 percent. 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. in march, we signalled that the policy rate would likely be kept at 4. 5 percent for some time ahead. we have not produced forecasts this time, but we have assessed new information against the march forecasts. chart : slower disinflation internationally international price inflation has slowed considerably since peaking in 2022, but the decline in inflation has recently slowed. services prices are still rising rapidly in many countries. central banks abroad have held policy rates steady in recent months. the market's policy rate expectations have increased, and major central banks are now expected to make fewer rate cuts this year than anticipated in march. chart : somewhat weaker krone expectations of fewer rate cuts in the us have been accompanied by a broad appreciation of the us dollar, also against the krone. we are concerned with the krone exchange rate because it affects inflation and activity in the norwegian economy. a weaker krone means higher prices for imported goods. at the same time, the profitability of the export sector increases. that can lead to higher wage growth, which can in turn fuel inflation. chart : low growth in the norwegian economy the norwegian economy is cooling down. growth is low, and household consumption has declined so far this year. there are large differences between developments in the primary and secondary housing markets. while turnover is sluggish in the primary housing market, and construction activity is very low, the stock of unsold homes in the secondary market has declined markedly since autumn. prices in the secondary housing market have shown a clear rise so far this year. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches the labour market has become less tight in recent years. employment is high but employment growth has slowed. we have recently seen a small increase in the number of unemployed registered with nav, but unemployment is still low.

different shocks that could hit the economy. the updated strategy is consistent with the committee's conduct of monetary policy over recent years and does not entail a change in the conduct of monetary policy. however, the monetary policy challenges are different today than they were when the strategy was first adopted in 2021. at that time, global interest rates and inflation had been low for an extended period. the updated strategy articulates that we interpret our mandate to mean that we shall give considerable weight to employment a€ “ also at times when inflation deviates significantly from the target. you will find more information about our monetary policy strategy on our website. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches