##urities of government bonds range from those with a short - term of few months to those with super - long maturities of 40 years. upon making jgbs with all maturities eligible for purchases, the bank has decided to extend the average remaining maturity of the bank ’ s jgb purchases from slightly less than three years to about seven years, which is roughly equivalent to the average maturity of the amount outstanding of jgbs issued. in general, the longer the period until maturity, the higher the risk of volatility in prices of jgbs. therefore, by extending the maturity of its jgb purchases, the bank is thus taking higher risk. this increase in jgb purchases and their maturity extension represent monetary easing both in terms of quantity and quality. the fourth feature is that, aside from the aforementioned purchases of jgbs, the bank has decided to expand purchases of other assets with higher risk ; namely, exchange - traded funds ( etfs ) and japan real estate investment trusts ( j - reits ). etfs are investment trusts that are designed so that prices are linked to stock indices such as the nikkei 225 stock average and topix, and they are traded in stock exchanges. for example, purchasing stock index etfs would be the same as indirectly buying stocks. by contrast, j - reits are investment trusts that invest in multiple real estate such as office buildings and commercial facilities. in other words, purchasing j - reits would mean indirectly investing in real estate. the bank will increase the amount outstanding of its holdings of etfs and j - reits at an annual pace of about 1 trillion yen and about 30 billion yen, respectively. we expect that the bank ’ s purchases of such assets with relatively high risk – or put differently, the conduct of monetary easing from the qualitative aspect – will encourage risk taking activities in the real economy. bis central bankers ’ speeches the fifth feature of the qqe is that the bank aims to achieve the 2 percent “ price stability target ” and will continue with the qqe as long as it is necessary for maintaining that target in a stable manner ( slide 5 ). the first feature i mentioned earlier is a commitment to definitely achieving the target, while the fifth is a commitment regarding the continuation of the qqe, such that the bank will continue with the qqe for as long as it is necessary to achieve the target. these two types of commitments – accompanied with responsibility – will increase public confidence in

anchor expectations concerning developments in the krone exchange rate and inflation. as a result, the impact of a terms - of - trade change, stemming from variations in the oil price, on these variables becomes less pronounced. moreover, the fiscal rule contributes to restraining the pace at which exposed industries are scaled back. in principle, these policy guidelines are just as conducive for coping with favourable periods as with adverse periods. we will face another test when the terms - of - trade change is reversed and the gains either fully or partly dissipate. monetary policy in norway is oriented towards low and stable inflation. this is the most important contribution monetary policy can make to sound economic developments in the long term. low and stable inflation provides enterprises and households with an anchor for inflation expectations. in its conduct of monetary policy, norges bank operates a flexible inflation targeting regime, so that weight is given both to variability in inflation and variability in output and employment. flexible inflation targeting builds a bridge between the long - term objective of monetary policy, which is to keep inflation on target and provide an anchor for inflation expectations, and the short - term objective of stabilising economic developments. transparency surrounding norges bank ’ s assessments of monetary policy trade - offs enhances economic agents ’ understanding of how economic news influences the interest rate. in recent years, it has become easier to read the bank ’ s intentions. as a result, monetary policy has become more effective. the background material for the executive board ’ s monetary policy meetings is published and the assessments underlying the interest rate decisions are explained. as from last autumn, the bank publishes its own interest rate forecast. from using technical assumptions and others ’ assessments, we have taken ownership of the interest rate path in our projections. even though considerable uncertainty still remains, it becomes easier for economic agents to assess interest rate developments. weak growth in the world economy early this decade led to low interest rates in many countries. interest rates were kept at a low level for a long period, but are now on the rise. the world economy is again expanding at a brisk pace. over the past three years, global production has increased by about 14 per cent, which is the strongest upturn since the beginning of the 1970s. in the uk and us, interest rates have already moved up to a more normal level. in sweden and the euro area, the central banks have started to raise interest rates. over the next year, further interest rate increases are expected in the euro area, the