ida wolden bache : the policy rate will likely be kept unchanged to the end of the year 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, 7 november 2024. * * * presentation accompanying the speech chart : 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. after inflation surged two and half years ago, we have raised the policy rate significantly, and 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. if the economy evolves as currently envisaged, the policy rate will be held at today's level to the end of the year. at the same time, we are approaching the time to lower interest rates. the forecast presented at the previous monetary policy meeting in september, indicated that the policy rate would be gradually reduced from the first quarter of next year. we have not made new forecasts for this monetary policy meeting, but the overall outlook for the norwegian economy does not appear to have changed materially since september. chart : international inflation has declined markedly from its peak internationally, central banks appear to have tackled inflation without large costs in the form of high unemployment. in many trading partner countries, inflation is now back at around 2 percent. many central banks have started reducing their policy rates. markets expect further rate cuts internationally over the next year but not to the same extent as in september. us interest rates have risen sharply in recent weeks. chart : inflation is moving down the inflation outlook for norway also indicates that we will be able to return inflation to target without a large increase in unemployment. inflation has declined markedly from its peak and has slowed faster than projected over the past year. consumer price inflation peaked at 7. 5 percent and is now down to 3 percent, which is a little lower than we envisaged in september. 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches but inflation is still above our target, and we expect that some factors will restrain further disinflation. wage growth is high, and combined

proud of. in fact, 2007 was a banner year for the bangko sentral as we were able to tame inflation to 2. 8 %, the lowest in 21 years, even as high global oil prices were hitting record high levels. that we achieved this low rate of inflation rate as the economy posted its best growth rate in three decades made for an ideal convergence of high growth and low inflation. we also ended 2007 with record high gross international reserves, balance of payments surplus, higher foreign investments, and a strong peso that emerged as one of asia ’ s top performing currencies. and even as a strong peso had an adverse effect on our income last year, we remain financially strong and solid. our capital base is now roughly 15 times the p10 billion we started out with 15 years ago. thus, while imported inflation from record high food and oil prices has started to affect local prices this year, we are still able to anchor expectations. we are take pride in the fact that we were able to nurture our banking system back to health from the depths of the asian financial crisis without the massive government bailouts that other countries in the region resorted to. our solution : to improve the quality of supervision and implement far - reaching structural reforms in cooperation with the executive and legislative branches of government. today, bank profits are better and capital base deeper, while npa and npl ratios are nearly back at pre - crisis levels. as a result, our banking sector is recognized as strong and able to withstand the fallout from the global financial turmoil. furthermore, banks are consolidating into stronger institutions even as their delivery of banking services and new financial products now extend well beyond urban centers and deep into the countryside and islands. a stable, secure and efficient payments and settlements system is another source of pride for us. in addition, we are happy that our advocacy in sustainable microfinance has energized smaller banks, especially rural banks, into bringing in more people within the banking system, not just for a working capital loan, but also for deposits and remittances. in fact, we are leading the way for central banks in product innovation for microfinance and garnering international recognition for it in the process. we have also made much progress in broadening available alternatives for overseas filipinos in sending remittances to their beneficiaries. greater competition has led to lower remittance cost, better accessibility, quicker delivery, and generally better services that