NOK 1735 billion)  (NOK 479 5 billion)  28%  29%  3%  66%  69%  Cards (both c redit a nd de bit card)  Electron ic giro services  5%  Cheques an d other p aper-ba sed payment services  Source: Norges Bank, Annual Report on Payment Systems 1998  We see that the share in value of payments made with payment cards - in spite of a sharp increase in the number of transactions - has not advanced much (still accounting for a mere 3-5% of the total transaction amount in the payment system). The average amount per transaction remains fairly low – i.e. approximately NOK 400. In general, we can nevertheless say that with the exception of cash, payment cards have become Norway’s most important payment instrument for small transactions. On the other hand, the electronic giro is the instrument which has increased the most in terms of value. The increase in direct transfers by business terminals has been particularly sharp, while the growth rate has been highest for “new” services - such telebanking and home banking. These developments are important for the further improvement of payment system efficiency. The emergence of home banking is a natural progression from telebanking, an area which is already highly developed in Norway. At the beginning of 1999, the vast majority of banks in Norway were able to offer giro services over the Internet, and turnover in 1998 already amounted to a good NOK 7bn.
Considerations relating to the business sector and the supply of labour set limits on how fast the public sector can expand. Given the current structure and pricing of public services - and the many tasks assumed by the public sector - it will become increasingly difficult as each year goes by to make ends meet in both central and local government budgets in an environment of growing demands and expectations. This probably represents the greatest challenge to economic policy in the years ahead. 19  BIS Review 14/2000