were deposited in the fund, but the entire amount was transferred back to the central government budget to cover some of the non - oil deficit. however, the norwegian economy rebounded and transfers to the fund started in 1996. the fund has since acted as a buffer between widely fluctuating oil revenues and public expenditure. the decision regarding annual petroleum revenue spending can be made independently of the size of the revenues. thus, the fluctuations in government petroleum revenues do not have an automatic impact on the norwegian economy. the fund also has a stabilising effect on the krone exchange rate because capital outflows increase when norway ’ s petroleum revenues rise. the fiscal rule for petroleum revenue spending, which was adopted in 2001, states that the government may spend – as an average over the business cycle – the expected normal real return on the capital in the fund over the central government budget. this return is estimated at 4 per cent. the rule ensures that the capital in the fund is not drawn on unless the real return on the fund is lower than 4 per cent. in this way, future generations will also benefit from the oil wealth. it is also important that the government ’ s portfolio of financial investments is constructed without considering the financing needs of norwegian enterprises. by the same token, norwegian companies can choose their funding structure independently of the government ’ s financial investments. the capital market serves as intermediary between the government as investor and firms ’ capital needs, and this ensures the separation of public and private choices. the norwegian capital market is part of a nordic market and increasingly part of a report no. 4 ( 1988 – 89 ) to the storting : long - term programme 1990 – 93. larger international market. capital markets are a very efficient tool for channelling savings into investment. since capital started flowing into the fund, the savings plan has remained intact. this indicates that both the fund mechanism and the fiscal rule are well anchored. this is a prerequisite for escaping the resource curse. on the other hand, only once in 2007 did the government budget bill call for spending below 4 per cent of the fund. it later transpired that petroleum revenue spending was also lower than 4 per cent in 2006 and 2008. the fund is in the process of becoming a major financing source for public expenditure for the coming decades. the fund has reached nok 3 trillion, or 120 per cent of gdp, of which nok 600 billion are returns in foreign currency. the government can now spend nok 120 billion

campaign ". this campaign focuses on four main themes : the visual appearance of the banknotes, their security features, their denominations and the common changeover modalities. it is designed to complement the other information campaigns on the euro, particularly those run by the national authorities in each euro area country. naturally, and as i mentioned earlier, we are also relying on the efforts of the banking community in this regard. at the end of the day, no television advertisement or billboard can replace the direct and immediate advice which competent bank employees can give to their customers. ladies and gentlemen, roughly a year from now, we shall finally be using the new euro banknotes and coins and our national currencies will no longer be in circulation. however, even then, the euro area will still not completely function as a truly unified currency zone. as i mentioned earlier, euro area financial markets are not yet fully integrated. i would also like to draw your attention to another area, which directly concerns the banking community, and where the potential benefits of the euro have yet to be fully exploited. i am referring to the price differential that continues to exist between cross - border retail payments within the euro area and those within individual member states. like the cash changeover, this is another area where the banking community has a crucial role to play in securing the full benefits of the common currency. i appreciate that this also represents a substantial task. however, once european businesses and citizens are using the euro for their everyday transactions, the provision of low - cost, efficient cross - border retail payment services will undoubtedly become a clear policy priority. finally, returning to the title of my speech " where are we 11 months before e - day? ", i would say that so far we are well on track. even before the introduction of euro banknotes and coins, the euro has already delivered much of what was expected. we regard these achievements with some satisfaction. nonetheless, this does not mean that we are complacent. the enormous challenge of the cash changeover still has to be met and, despite all past and ongoing work, a lot remains to be done. even after the changeover, the ecb does not anticipate settling down to " business as usual " anytime soon. our objective is to make the euro a lasting success. i am confident that - by also building on our good working relations with the banking community - we shall continue to succeed in this endeavour. thank you ladies and gentlemen.