policy in recent years, the krone would have been weaker. experience has also shown that the krone weakens when oil prices fall or, as we saw this summer, financial markets experience turbulence. chart 7 : inflation will slow and unemployment edge up 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches with the current policy rate path, inflation is projected to move down further and approach 2 percent towards the end of 2027. unemployment will likely edge up to about the level prevailing before the pandemic. many people have experienced tighter household budgets in recent years, but most people will find that their budgets will stretch further going forward. interest expenses will still be high, but we expect wages to rise faster than prices, and the debt burden will be easier to bear. the economy may evolve differently than we now anticipate. if the outlook suggests that inflation will return to target faster or there is a more pronounced slowdown in the norwegian economy, the policy rate may be lowered faster than currently envisaged. on the other hand, if the krone depreciates further or economic pressures increase, inflation could remain elevated for longer. a higher policy rate than currently envisaged may then be required. inflation has slowed sharply. that's welcome news, and now it's important that we go the last mile of returning inflation back to the target. by maintaining confidence in the inflation target, we are better equipped to deal with new shocks and periods of turbulence in the future. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches

for the rate decision and the committee's assessment. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches chart 3 : low growth in the norwegian economy growth in the norwegian economy was low through last year and has remained weak this year. high inflation and the rise in interest rates have reduced household purchasing power and consumption, and residential construction has shown a sharp decline. economic activity is being supported by public sector demand and heavy investment in the petroleum industry. information from our regional network indicates that economic growth will pick up a little in the second half of this year. but there are wide differences across industries, with oil services expecting strong growth and the construction industry a continued decline. over the past couple of years, the labour market has become less tight, and firms are finding it easier to fill their recruitment needs. employment is high, but the share of the population employed has fallen a little. unemployment has edged up from a low level. chart 4 : inflation has declined markedly from its peak at its highest, inflation was above 7 percent. according to last week's data, inflation is now running at 2. 6 percent. excluding energy prices, which are quite volatile, inflation is a little higher than 3 percent. inflation has been lower than we expected in june. international inflation has also fallen notably, and central bank rate cuts are now expected to be deeper and faster than before summer. chart 5 : wage growth is high while wage growth is subsiding among many trading partner countries, it is still high in norway. wages increased by 5. 2 percent last year, and a comparable increase is expected this year. we expect wage growth to moderate in the years ahead, but given weak productivity growth, business costs will continue to grow at a fast pace. chart 6 : the krone has depreciated the krone exchange rate has depreciated in recent years and is now weaker than at the time of the june monetary policy meeting. a weaker krone means an increase in prices for imported goods and services, and higher costs for firms that depend on imported intermediate goods. for the export industry, a weaker krone means increased profitability, which can lead to higher wage growth and, in turn, to higher inflation. movements in the krone exchange rate are determined by a wide range of conditions, in both norway and internationally. this makes it difficult to explain all exchange rate movements, but we can safely say that the interest rate matters for the krone exchange rate. if we had not tightened monetary