Report on monetary policy in 2003 - the first eight months1)

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Monetary policy in Norway

Objectives

The Government has defined an inflation target for monetary policy in Norway. The operational objective is an inflation rate of 2½% over time. In general, the direct effects on consumer prices resulting from changes in interest rates, taxes, excise duties and extraordinary temporary disturbances are not taken into account. Norges Bank places particular emphasis on CPI inflation adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products (CPI-ATE) when assessing underlying inflation.

Communication and reporting

The monetary policy decision is announced on the same day at 2pm. The Bank gives a press conference at 2.45pm on the same day, also when interest rates are left unchanged. The press release and the press conference are available on http://www.norges-bank.no.

The assessment of the inflation outlook is presented in the Inflation Report, which is published three times a year, normally in February/March, June and October. The Inflation Report discusses monetary policy in the preceding four-month period. In addition, Norges Bank reports on the conduct of monetary policy in its Annual Report. The Bank’s reporting obligation is set out in §75c of the Constitution, which stipulates that the Storting shall supervise Norway’s monetary system, and in §3¹ of the Central Bank Act. The Annual Report is submitted to the Ministry of Finance and communicated to the King in Council and to the Storting in the Government’s Kredittmeldingen (Credit Report). As from autumn 2003, open hearings in the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic affairs are planned in connection with the Storting deliberation on the Credit Report.

Footnotes