of objective and independent information and analysis. an objective and professional media which has credibility with the public is of much more value to the central bank than an uncritical media which no one takes very seriously. the interests of the media and those of the bank of uganda are not identical but that does not mean that we cannot work together in a harmonious manner. to do this we must create a relationship which is based on openness and trust. trust is critical and it works both ways. from the media ’ s standpoint, reporters and editors must be confident that they are not being deliberately misled with false information that they receive from the bank. from the bank ’ s standpoint, we must be confident that the media will not deliberately distort or misrepresent information given to them by ourselves. we should also strive to improve professionalism in economic and financial journalism. the information that the media makes available to the public matters for the financial markets and influences the decisions made in these markets. accuracy is, therefore, essential. to help strengthen standards of reporting, the bank has provided training to local journalists on financial and economic issues at seminars over the past four years, and we intend to provide more of these training sessions in the future. i want to finish with quote from mr. larry summers, currently chairman of the presidents economic council of advisors in the united states ; ” in this age of electronic money, investors are no longer seduced by a „ financial dance of a thousand veils. [UNK] only hard and accurate information on reserves, current accounts, monetary and fiscal conditions will keep capital from fleeing precipitously at the first sign of trouble. ” memo from ceo to manager : today at 11 o'clock, there will be a total eclipse of the sun. this is when the sun disappears behind the moon for two minutes. as this is something that cannot be seen every day, time will be allowed for employees to view the eclipse in the parking lot. staff should meet in the lot at ten to eleven, when i will deliver a short speech introducing the eclipse, and giving some background information. safety goggles will be made available at a small cost. memo from manager to department head : today at ten to eleven, all staff should meet in the car park. this will be followed by a total eclipse of the sun, which will appear for two minutes. for a moderate cost, this will be made safe with goggles. the ceo will deliver a short speech beforehand to

high level that took hold in the 1990s, and wage growth has slowed. in the euro area, unemployment has dropped without an increase in wage growth. in norway, the high growth in labour costs may be a source of rising unemployment. interaction with fiscal policy it is important that the annual budgets are based on a long - term strategy that takes into account possible fluctuations in oil revenues from one year to the next. with large and, to some extent, varying budget revenues, the basis for determining central government expenditure and taxes from one year to the next may easily be impaired. if budget spending is allowed to vary in step with oil prices, the norwegian economy may experience abrupt shifts and instability. changes in oil prices may then quickly influence wage and price expectations, the exchange rate and long - term rates. in addition, short - term rates would have to be changed frequently and sharply. in recent years, central government real underlying spending growth has accelerated somewhat. in 2000 and 2001, spending growth has been higher than 2 per cent, which is higher than normal growth in the mainland economy. at the same time, direct and indirect taxes have increased. fiscal policy has thus had a virtually neutral effect on domestic demand for two years while wage growth has been substantially higher than in other countries. a possible interpretation of this development is that it is more demanding to use the government budget to dampen cyclical fluctuations during an upturn than during a downturn. the willingness and ability to pursue a counter - cyclical policy may in itself be cyclical. another interpretation is that a neutral fiscal stance this year, with a strong increase in government financial wealth, is a balanced approach to using the budget to stabilise the economy while phasing in an increase in financial income in the economy. conclusion the norwegian economy is fragile and vulnerable. as long as oil prices are high, the norwegian economy is fairly sheltered. many central banks are now reducing their key rates. as our economy is affected to a lesser extent, the differential between short rates in norway and abroad may widen. thank you for your attention.