The results of the wage settlement so far may suggest that wage growth this year will be somewhat lower than projected by Norges Bank. Inflation, on the other hand, has been broadly in line with expectations, and the krone exchange rate has developed approximately as projected since the March Inflation Report was published. The inflation outlook has not changed significantly since the March Inflation Report was published. At its monetary policy meeting on 25 May, Norges Bank’s Executive Board decided to leave the sight deposit rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent. The Executive Board stated: “The monetary policy assessments presented in the Inflation Report in March indicated that the interest rate will rise after a period and at a gradual pace. The assessments were based on market participants’ expectations that the interest rate would be increased in the summer. A development where the interest rate rises gradually - in small and not too frequent steps - was considered to provide a good balance between the different objectives. The outlook for inflation and activity has not changed substantially since the March Inflation Report. As an alternative, the Executive Board considered increasing the interest rate already at this meeting.
As already announced, the remaining denominations in the series will be issued at half-yearly or yearly intervals, with the next one being the 10-franc note. The appearance, design elements and other information relating to this denomination will be communicated on 11 October 2017, and issuance will begin a week later, on 18 October. I’d like to thank everyone who helped prepare the ground for the successful launch of the new 20-franc note – as well as those involved at all other stages of the process – for their hard work. Page 3/3