ida wolden bache : norges bank is raising the policy rate to bring down inflation introductory statement by ms ida wolden bache, governor of norges bank ( central bank of norway ), at a press conference following the announcement of the policy rate, oslo, 3 november 2022. * * * accompanying charts of the speech. introduction chart 1 : policy rate raised from 2. 25 to 2. 5 percent norges bank's monetary policy and financial stability committee decided unanimously to raise the policy rate by 0. 25 percentage point to 2. 5 percent. norges bank's task is to keep inflation low and stable. the operational target is inflation of close to 2 per cent over time. we are also mandated to help keep employment as high as possible and to promote economic stability over time. economic activity is high in norway, and unemployment is at a historically low level. at the same time, we are seeing that some areas of the economy are cooling down. inflation is very high. many people are experiencing how demanding it can be to cope with rapid and unexpected price increases. high inflation is weakening households'purchasing power and hampering economic decision making for both firms and households. we believe that a higher policy rate is needed to curb inflation. in its deliberations, the committee was concerned with balancing the risk of tightening too much against the risk of tightening too little. if we do not tighten monetary policy enough, there is a risk that inflation will gain a foothold at a high level, and that it will be necessary to raise the policy rate even higher at a later stage to reduce inflation. on the other hand, if we raise the policy rate too much, we might dampen the economy more than necessary, which is something we want to avoid. we believe that we can achieve an appropriate balance of these risks by raising the policy rate by 0. 25 percentage point now. let me a say a little more about the background for the policy rate decision. new forecasts have not been prepared for this monetary policy meeting, but we have assessed new information against the projections we presented in september. chart 2 : gas and electricity prices have declined 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches prices are rising rapidly among our trading partners, and inflation has been higher than projected in the previous monetary policy report. but both gas and electricity prices have recently fallen from high levels. global freight prices are still high but have fallen recently and more than we had anticipated. many central banks have

øystein olsen : the economic outlook speech by mr øystein olsen, governor of the norges bank ( central bank of norway ), to invited foreign embassy representatives, norges bank, oslo, 4 april 2013. the speech is based on the annual address 2013, monetary policy report 1 / 13 and previous speeches. please note that the text below may differ slightly from the actual presentation. * * * excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, i would like to welcome you to norges bank. five years after the financial crisis started, growth is weak and unemployment high in many countries. the economic situation in norway stands in contrast to developments abroad. norway ’ s economy is still growing and unemployment remains low. there is a tendency to see ourselves as a country apart. truly, norway ’ s oil and gas resources provide an economic base that few other countries enjoy. income levels are among the highest in the world. at the same time, our increasing dependence on oil and gas increases the vulnerability of the norwegian economy. the theme of my presentation today is how to enhance the resilience of the norwegian economy. when the financial crisis washed over the norwegian banking sector in autumn 2008, we were reminded of how dependent we are on the world around us. nonetheless, the norwegian economy weathered the crisis well. after about a year, the downturn in norway was over. chart 1 bis central bankers ’ speeches one of the main reasons is the strong demand for norwegian goods in countries where economic growth remains robust. the centre of gravity in the world economy is shifting. in the course of the next few decades, china will most likely be the largest economy in the world. emerging economies – with china at the forefront – are the main driving force behind the increase in demand for crude oil and other commodities. as a result, prices for norwegian export goods have remained high, even in the context of declining growth among our traditional trading partners. chart 2 the emergence of newly industrialised economies has also led to lower import prices in norway. the improvement in norway ’ s terms of trade is without parallel in our recent history. we have to go back to the boom period at the time of world war i to find anything similar. developments in other countries have been less favourable. what started as a banking crisis in the us and the uk has developed into a sovereign debt crisis, with europe at the epicentre. austerity measures and economic contraction are now going hand in hand. social unrest is