Norway
Norges Bank deputy: lack of common infrastructure hampers faster payments
Limited collaboration between banks in Norway is hampering availability of real-time payments and causing Norway to fall behind, Jon Nicolaisen says
Pursuing stable rates may create instability, Norges Bank paper finds
Preference among central bankers to keep rates at “normal” levels may prove time-inconsistent, researchers warn
Olsen wins second term at Norges Bank
Øystein Olsen reappointed for second and final term as Norges Bank governor, seeing off competition from six other applicants, including a former governor of the Central Bank of Iceland
EBA publishes first complete list of European O-SIIs
European Banking Authority publishes first full list of other systemically important institutions in Europe; some national supervisors make more use of discretion than others
Paper finds Norwegian housing market is ‘micro efficient’
Research published by Norges Bank exploits dataset comprising 472,378 housing transactions; finds little persistence but a lot of reversion in sale prices
Norway’s NBIM drops first batch of coal investments
Fund excludes 52 coal-related companies from portfolio in first “tranche”, with more planned; measuring exactly which firms fall within boundary proves tricky
Norges Bank deputy pits Keynes against Hayek
Jon Nicolaisen says European countries may have invoked the lessons of Keynes without paying heed to the warnings of Hayek – both views are needed to avoid problems
Norges Bank researchers grapple with nonlinear exchange rate pass-through
Exchange rate pass-through in Norway is unusually high, which the authors suggest could be due to the size of recent currency movements – but pinning down the effect empirically proves difficult
Norway’s Olsen plans to seek reappointment
Norges Bank governor says he plans to seek a second term, as government launches public application process for position
Norges Bank willing to consider move into negative territory
Central bank cuts rates to 0.5% and signals further action likely to follow; executive board concerned by side-effects of negative rates, but willing to use them if necessary
Bank capital matters for risk-taking channel of monetary policy, Norges Bank paper finds
Less capitalised Norwegian banks are more likely to extend credit to risky firms in response to a cut in the policy rate, author finds
Norges Bank organisational changes geared towards better investment
Revamp of organisational structure is mainly focused on improving the governance of the sovereign wealth fund, which delivered a return of 2.7% despite turbulence last year, annual report reveals
Norway’s pension fund may be close to peak, Olsen says
Norges Bank governor says Norway should not count on being able to build its sovereign wealth fund much further, and must brace for a difficult period of rebalancing after the oil boom
High debt tends to reduce consumption growth – Norges Bank memo
Research tries to capture diversity of household balance sheets, finding consumption tends to grow more slowly among those with high debt levels
NBIM reports clarify demands for high ethical standards
Norwegian SWF expects firms it invests in to address a broad range of long-term risks, including the need to meet high ethical standards; publishes expectations document on human rights
Distribution of liquidity can impact monetary policy transmission, paper finds
Research published by Norges Bank encourages central banks to pay attention to the distribution of liquidity in the interbank market, as well as its overall level
‘Decarbonisation’ could allow investors to hedge climate risks, economists say
Economists claim low-carbon index can deliver similar performance to benchmark indexes while hedging the uncertain timing of climate change policy-making
Floating exchange rate has led to more volatility, Norwegian paper says
Moving to inflation targeting regime prompted rise in volatility in nominal exchange rates, research says; no depreciation or appreciation trends evident, however
Norges Bank paper seeks to improve modelling of money
Researchers aim to capture the role of money as both a medium of exchange and a liquid asset, with the resulting equilibrium underscoring the need for a liquidity coverage ratio
Restructuring Norwegian economy will take time, Norges Bank says
The Norwegian economy is suffering amid further falls in oil prices, and rebalancing will take time, but central bank policy is doing its best to support the transition, report says
Norges Bank shuffles organisation of support functions
Norges Bank looks to strengthen support structure through creation of central secretariat, which will be headed by Birger Vikøren
Norges Bank gets second deputy governor for first time
Norges Bank announces appointment of academic to newly-created deputy governor position, while NBIM names new chief compliance and control officer
Short-term funding developments put Norwegian banks at risk, report finds
Parts of the Norwegian economy remain a source of vulnerability for banks, says deputy governor Nicolaisen at launch of latest financial stability report
Norges Bank paper tries to extract high-frequency forecasts from low-frequency data
Researchers find low-frequency information can be important in forecasting high-frequency variables, designing a model that outperforms a random walk benchmark