Nevertheless, the public sector is now setting the course, and hopefully, in a couple of years, a cross-border payment will be almost as frictionless as a domestic payment. That should at least be the aim, I think. Building payment systems for our grandchildren Allow me to offer some concluding remarks. History has taught us many things. Trust and uniformity, technology and innovation, network and scale effects, and the division of responsibilities of the public and private sector are fundamental drivers of the payments market. The speed of innovation is faster than ever, pushing the Riksbank to adapt and respond to the evolving world around us. This is why we are now updating and modernising our services. We will soon launch RIX-INST for instant payments. In addition to that, we have made a decision to take preparatory steps to connect the Swedish krona to the Eurosystem’s T2 and T2S platform. We are heavily involved in international work to enhance cross-border payments, and we are carrying out investigative work on a potential e-krona. In my view, all of these decisions follow a long Riksbank tradition of providing a forward-looking, cost-effective and secure payment infrastructure. 15 [15]
Moreover, the fall in demand probably reflects adaptations among households and businesses in the wake of the sharp rise in oil prices up to summer. A stronger dollar, heightened uncertainty and reduced willingness and ability to take risk among financial investors in the futures market for oil may also have contributed to the fall in oil prices. 2  BIS Review 143/2008  Commodity prices have dropped sharply since summer. Lower metal prices reflect lower global growth prospects. It may almost seem as though that there has been a bubble in oil and commodity markets which has now burst. The fall in energy and commodity price has resulted in a weakening of Norway’s terms of trade. Foreign exchange markets have also been volatile. Interest among investors has shifted away from carry trade to more liquid currencies or own currencies. Since June, low-interest currencies, such as the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, have appreciated while highinterest currencies, such as the Australian and New Zealand dollar, have depreciated. The US dollar has appreciated from low levels. The krone exchange rate has depreciated since end-June. This partly reflects the financial market turmoil. Low risk willingness had induced investors to scale back their positions in less liquid currencies such as the Norwegian krone. The fall in the price of oil and other commodities has probably also contributed somewhat to the depreciation. The krone exchange rate is expected to appreciate gradually when financial market conditions improve.