##ses. in all inflation - targeting countries, with the exception of iceland, the interest rate is assessed at pre - announced times. the interest rate may also be assessed at extraordinary meetings. in addition, signals about the interest rate may be given in speeches or other statements. practice varies with regard to the publication of meeting minutes and voting. at norges bank, we have become more transparent in recent years about the background for the interest rate decisions. so far, we have only had positive experience with this. in statements following monetary policy meetings, press conferences, inflation reports and speeches, we present an account of aspects of economic developments that influence the executive board ’ s assessments and interest rate decisions. everything is available on norges bank ’ s website. interest rate decisions are based on a monetary policy strategy drawn up by the executive board every four months. the strategy is published as soon as it is adopted and prior to the relevant strategy period. in the last year, we have commented on market participants ’ interest rate expectations. the fifth characteristic is that central banks in inflation - targeting countries must be accountable in different ways for the results of their monetary policy. inflation targeting is transparent. this allows for a regular follow - up and assessment of the interest rate setting. norges bank ’ s annual report with a discussion of the conduct of monetary policy is sent to the ministry of finance for submission to the king and communication to the storting. the government ’ s see svensson, lars e. o. ( 1999 ), “ price level targeting vs inflation targeting : a free lunch? ” journal of money, credit and banking, vol. 31, pp. 277 - 295, and vestin, david ( 203 ), “ price - level versus inflation targeting ” forthcoming in journal of monetary economics. see fracasso, andrea., hans genberg and charles. wyplosz ( 2003 ), “ how do central banks write? an evaluation of inflation reports by inflation targeting central banks, geneva reports on the world economy, special report 2. evaluations are presented in the annual credit report. as governor of norges bank, i appear at an open hearing in the storting ’ s standing committee on finance and economic affairs as part of the committee ’ s deliberations on the government ’ s credit report. in addition, norges bank watch sends an independent professional evaluation of monetary policy to the ministry of finance. in many countries, the central bank governor must appear before parliament and answer questions

, the social partners agreed on a wage norm of 5. 2 percent for 2023, which also turned out to be the rate of overall annual wage growth. by a good 1 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches margin, wage growth reached its highest level since 2008. given the low growth in productivity, the pay increases led to higher business costs. chart : the krone depreciated in spring of last year, international interest rates reached the highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis, and main trading partners'policy rates rose to higher levels than our policy rate. this likely contributed to a depreciation of the krone. measured against a basket of currencies of countries from which we import goods, the krone has gradually lost value over recent years. if we look at developments against individual currencies, the picture is more mixed. the us dollar has appreciated against many currencies, including the krone. this illustrates that the krone depreciation is due not only to conditions specific to norway. in many situations, a floating exchange rate can act as a cushion for the norwegian economy, as was the case when oil prices plummeted in 2014. at that time, the krone depreciated markedly and contributed to lifting activity in the tradable goods sector. the norwegian economy could move on a different path than surrounding countries in the future too, and a floating krone will be of benefit to our economy. a floating exchange rate can reduce the cost of structural adjustments. last year, however, amid weaker growth prospects and already too high inflation, the krone depreciation made the monetary policy trade - offs more challenging. we do not have an exchange rate target for the krone. when we are concerned with the exchange rate, it is because a weaker krone means an increase in prices for imported goods. moreover, a weaker krone can lead to higher activity and increased profits in the export sector, which can in turn lead to stronger wage growth and contribute to a longer period of high domestic cost inflation. chart : we have raised the policy rate more than envisaged our assessment at the beginning of 2023 was that we were approaching the policy rate peak. but, in the course of spring, it became clear that a higher rate was required. unemployment had increased less than feared, while inflation had remained higher than expected. at the same time, high wage growth and a weaker krone would continue to push up inflation going forward.