ida wolden bache : soon appropriate to begin easing monetary policy introductory statement by ms ida wolden bache, governor of norges bank ( central bank of norway ), at the press conference following norway's announcement of the policy rate, oslo, 19 december 2024. * * * presentation accompanying the speech chart 1 : policy rate kept unchanged at 4. 5 percent the monetary policy and financial stability committee has decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4. 5 percent. norges bank is tasked with keeping inflation low and stable. the operational target is inflation of close to 2 percent over time. we are also mandated to help keep employment as high as possible and to promote economic stability. in recent years, we have raised the policy rate significantly to tackle high inflation. since december last year, the policy rate has been held at 4. 5 percent. the interest rate has contributed to cooling down the economy and to dampening inflation. inflation has fallen markedly and moved closer to target but is not expected to fall as fast ahead. if the policy rate is lowered too quickly, inflation could remain above target for too long. at the same time, the committee does not want to restrict the economy more than needed to bring inflation down to target within a reasonable time horizon. since the previous forecasts presented in september, economic activity has been a little higher than expected, while inflation pressures appear to have been slightly lower. the committee judges that a restrictive monetary policy is still needed, but that the time to begin easing monetary policy is soon approaching. if developments turn out as we now envisage, the committee will reduce the policy rate in march next year. chart 2 : policy rate will likely be reduced in march the committee projects a gradual reduction in the policy rate in the years ahead. the policy rate forecast presented today is consistent with a reduction in the policy rate to 4. 25 percent in march, with a further decline to 3. 75 percent by the end of 2025. even though the time is soon approaching to begin easing monetary policy, we must be prepared for a higher interest rate level than we had been accustomed to over the past decade. given the current policy rate path, the average interest rate on housing loans is projected to decline from 5. 6 percent today to just below 4. 5 percent in 2027. i want to emphasise that a forecast is not a promise. there is a large degree of uncertainty around the economic outlook. we are likely to see a period of increased trade

, and that the senior officers in those roles can speak freely on issues that need to be addressed. audit committee members should have regular time in meetings to talk with the outside auditors without managers present. best practices for audit committee processes have been laid out many times, including in the 1980s by the treadway commission and in 2000 by the blue ribbon committee. beyond that, boards of directors and managers should periodically test where they stand on ethical business practices. for example, they should ask, “ are we getting by on technicalities, adhering to the letter but not the spirit of the law? are we compensating others and ourselves based on our contributions to the organization, or are we taking advantage of our positions? ” my intent today is to remind everyone of the importance of maintaining sound ethical practices to help protect the reputation of your bank. as recent events have demonstrated, if we fail to do so the market will enforce the discipline. and that discipline can be harsh. quality of accounting practices the current framework of financial reporting in the united states effectively represents the performance of most corporations most of the time. indeed the high quality of accounting standards in this country is one critical reason why capital markets are so efficient. but the lessons of the past few months remind us that accounting rules can be bent. for six years i was a member of the emerging issues task force of the financial accounting standards board. this is the rulemaking body that deals with divergence in practice. the eitf ’ s role is to provide timely financial reporting guidance where divergence in practice is developing. in the time i served on the eitf i came to understand that professionals could and did disagree on the best accounting standard to apply to a new type of transaction. that is at the very heart of the struggle to keep accounting standards current. the rapid pace of business innovations makes it impractical to have a rule in place to anticipate every business transaction. rather, the more complex and dynamic the world of business becomes, the more important it is that accounting be based on strong principles that are sufficiently robust to provide the framework for proper accounting of new types of transactions. further, we need to insist on higher professional standards and not permit financial officers and auditors to benefit from “ gaming ” the rules - based accounting standards that are increasing in complexity, particularly in the united states. the core of these basic accounting principles should be professional standards followed by every corporate accountant and every outside auditor that would insist that they can