Regulatory decisions and economic drivers will affect the status quo These examples give a sense of the level of integration between UK and continental financial markets, in particular for certain complex and sophisticated financial services linked to derivatives markets and investment banking activities. However, Brexit will change this status quo and a degree of decoupling is likely. It is difficult to make firm predictions about the extent to which our two financial systems may drift apart or remain integrated. The contours of the future EU-UK relationship in financial services are still uncertain, and the economic drivers and regulatory choices which could reshape this relationship will probably only be felt over time. The EU will need to balance the benefits of continued integration with the UK financial system against potential risks to financial stability, consumer and investor protection, the level playing field and the integrity of the Single Market. As I have said in the past, this path will not be easy for either side of the Channel, and the risks linked to regulatory divergence and a potential race to the bottom should not be taken lightly. Allow me to briefly discuss the regulatory dimension of this question. A possible scenario is that the United Kingdom will not seek to remain a member of the EU Single Market once it leaves the EU. This means moving away from a fully-integrated relationship underpinned by the EU’s single rulebook and single passport for financial services, and relying instead on the EU’s equivalence framework for third countries.
Interest rates were kept at a low level for a long period, but are now on the rise. The world economy is again expanding at a brisk pace. Over the past three years, global production has increased by about 14 per cent, which is the strongest upturn since the beginning of the 1970s. In the UK and US, interest rates have already moved up to a more normal level. In Sweden and the euro area, the central banks have started to raise interest rates. Over the next year, further interest rate increases are expected in the euro area, the UK, Sweden, Switzerland, the US, Canada, Japan and Australia. Norway has also experienced a fairly long period of falling and thereafter stable, low interest rates. Price inflation was subdued, and there was idle capacity in the economy. Real interest rates have been very low and markedly lower than a neutral level. In line with the prospects I presented to the Committee last year, we have started raising interest rates. To date, Norges Bank’s key rate has been increased by 0.75 percentage point. Consumer price inflation has edged up, but is still very low even close to three years after the start of the cyclical upturn. Consumer prices adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products have risen by 1 per cent over the past twelve months1. Prices for imported consumer goods have fallen almost every year since the mid-1990s, reflecting freer trade and the shift towards imports from lowcost countries.