Ida Wolden Bache: Norges Bank's balance sheet

Speech by Ms Ida Wolden Bache, Governor of Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), at the Centre for Monetary Economics (CME) / BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, 17 October 2024.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Central bank speech  | 
22 October 2024

Charts accompanying the speech

Good afternoon. I would like to thank the Centre for Monetary Economics and BI Norwegian Business School for inviting me here today.

Most of my speeches over the past couple of years have focused on inflation and monetary policy. This has been natural considering that we have been through a period with the highest inflation in more than four decades and the steepest rise in interest rates since the end of the 1990s. Inflation has now slowed considerably since the peak but is still higher than our target. The policy rate has been 4.5 percent since December 2023. Based on Norges Bank's assessment of the outlook at the time of the September monetary policy meeting, the policy rate needs to be kept at today's level for a period ahead. At the same time, the time to ease monetary policy is approaching.

This is a topic I will return to on many future occasions, but not today. Today, I will focus on another topic, namely Norges Bank's balance sheet. Although this might sound like a narrow topic, I hope to convince you that it is both fundamental and relevant. It is fundamental because the conduct of monetary policy is dependent on our being the bankers' bank and the only provider of banks' means of settlement. It is relevant because changes are now taking place that will influence what Norges Bank's balance sheet will look like ahead.