the strategy for the management of the government pension fund global. the strategic plan builds on the main elements of the plan for the previous period. we will continue to place emphasis on our role as a long - term, professional owner with in - depth knowledge about the largest companies and to actively contribute to the development of international standards and principles. as from 2017, the level and composition of the gpfg ’ s real estate investments will be decided by norges bank ’ s executive board. norges bank is committed to performing its investment management assignment in a costefficient manner, taking advantage of the fund ’ s unique characteristics. the goal is to achieve the highest possible return within the framework of the investment management mandate. 1 return before management costs and measured in terms of the fund ’ s currency basket. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

s regional network contacts throughout the country report that business conditions are weakening. overall, they expect activity to fall in the coming period. at the same time, there are wide differences across industries. high investment in petroleum production is fuelling activity for companies providing goods and services to the petroleum sector. retail trade and construction activity is falling owing to the decline in consumption and low residential construction. unemployment has remained low as expected, but recruitment difficulties have eased. a looser labour market will curb wage and price inflation further out. slide : international inflation is on the way down international inflation is on the way down. most central banks have kept policy rates unchanged in recent months and according to the market's interpretation of future developments, central banks will start cutting rates in the course of spring 2024. import price inflation will slow as a result of weaker price impulses. at the same time, there are other forces that could keep inflation in norway elevated despite an easing of international price impulses. slide : wage growth is high labour costs have shown a substantial rise in recent years, and wage growth is projected to reach 5. 5 percent this year. manufacturing profitability is solid, and wage growth is set to be high next year too. the pay increases are not large compared with the rise in living costs. but businesses are facing rising costs, and we can now see that higher labour costs are increasingly driving price inflation. slide : the krone has depreciated the krone has depreciated considerably and is now markedly weaker than we projected in september. we do not have a policy target for the krone exchange rate, but the movement in the krone is of concern to us because a weaker krone means higher imported goods inflation. a weaker krone also helps improve manufacturing profitability. in today's situation, the krone depreciation could make it more challenging to bring down inflation. slide : policy rate will likely be kept on hold for some time the committee assesses that a tight monetary policy stance will likely be needed for some time ahead in order to return inflation to target within a reasonable time horizon. further out, when inflation falls back and economic conditions so warrant, the committee can start lowering the policy rate. the forecast indicates that the policy rate will continue to lie around 4. 5 % until autumn 2024 before gradually moving down. slide : inflation will recede and unemployment edge up with such a path for the policy rate, inflation is projected to slow and approach target in