the needed interventions aimed at improving the use of communication as a tool, not only for managing crisis but also to prevent them. 8. on behalf of the governor of the bank of ghana, i wish to thank the aacb for choosing ghana to host this seminar. i believe through this seminar, our international delegates have had the opportunity to taste ghanaian culture and hospitality. yet, i would still encourage you to stay longer, if possible, or return to ghana on your next vacation to explore more of the marvellous sights and sounds unique to our country, ghana. 9. finally, may you carry our warm felicitation to your governors and colleagues in your central banks. i also expect you to share the experiences, the gains and the take - away points from this seminar with my fellow governors so that we can expand the coverage of the intended impact beyond this year ’ s seminar. 10. i wish you all safe flight back home. thank you for your attention

and actions. monetary policy ’ s role is to ensure low and stable inflation. experience shows that we cannot reduce unemployment over time by simply accepting somewhat higher inflation. in many countries, including norway, confidence that inflation will be held at bay has increased because interest rate setting has been delegated to the central bank. we are now in a period where petroleum wealth is being invested in foreign financial assets via the government petroleum fund. the government is to gradually phase in petroleum revenues into the domestic economy by using approximately the expected real return on the fund. the fiscal rule was established in 2001. growth in public spending started to accelerate in 1997 from its low level in the mid - 1990s. spending growth has also been fairly strong in recent years, but perhaps somewhat slower than earlier. the fiscal rule for the budget implies that the government can use 4 per cent of the fund over time. this year, a little more than 6 per cent is being used. the deviation partly reflects an unexpected shortfall in tax revenues in recent years. the government budget deficit is the difference between total revenues and total spending. they each account for about half of total gdp in norway. even small deviations from spending and revenue projections can have a major impact on the deficit. exchange rate changes will also lead to fluctuations in the value of the petroleum fund. for these reasons alone, the use of petroleum revenues may in periods deviate from the 4 per cent rule. spending was also increased in response to the economic downturn. we can therefore safely affirm that the fiscal rule has been normative for fiscal policy. at the time of the introduction of the fiscal rule in 2001 projections pointed to a continued increase in the use of petroleum revenues. we had to expect this growth in spending to lead to weaker competitiveness in norwegian manufacturing, either through higher wages or an appreciation of the krone. with wage growth in norway higher than abroad, the competitive position of norway ’ s manufacturing industry has weakened by about 15 per cent since the mid - 1990s. competitiveness is about 4 per cent weaker than the average for the past 30 years. the krone has been influenced by high oil and gas prices and prices for other norwegian export goods. monetary policy has also influenced the path for norway ’ s relative costs, but the nominal value of the krone is about the same as 10 years ago. strong growth in public spending and expectations of moderately higher growth in the use of petroleum revenues now seem to have been factored into the cost level. over the