Svein Gjedrem: Making use of the central bank Speech by Mr Svein Gjedrem, Governor of Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway), at Norges Bank’s Symposium “What is a useful central bank?”, Oslo, 17 November 2010. *  *  *  The text below may differ from the actual presentation. In his first year as governor of Norges Bank in 1985, Hermod Skånland gave a speech entitled: “Making use of the central bank”. 1 Skånland compared the independence of the Bundesbank with Norges Bank’s position in the government administration under the credit rationing policy of the time here in Norway. He said: “In Norway, where no great degree of power has been given to the central bank, it must develop other qualities.” The Bank was to be efficient in its operations and function as a sound adviser for the government authorities. But in the course of Skånland’s years as governor, Norges Bank’s role changed – the interest rate once again became an active monetary policy instrument. The Norges Bank of today is a result of its own and the country’s economic history. Although the Bank’s role is influenced by central bank developments in other countries, we also have our own legal traditions and our own way of organising government administration. The tasks assigned to the Bank are also supported by modern economic theory. A central bank is different from other public bodies in that it has its own balance sheet, independent budgetary authority and its own accounts.
Here I would like to remind you that the Banco de España has opened a public consultation process on the amendment of Circular 2/2016 on supervision and solvency this very week. The aim is to develop certain aspects of the macroprudential toolkit that legislation has made 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  available to the Banco de España. Pursuant to this legislation, the Banco de España may set limits and conditions on lending standards and other financial institution transactions, along with sectoral concentration limits. The new Circular defines the procedures for activating, deactivating and changing these measures, including the variables and parameters that the Banco de España may take into consideration to adopt a decision, the sectors that may be affected and the contractual terms or ratios that the measures may apply to. I would like to conclude by thanking the General Council of Economists for this initiative geared to young people, a group that the Banco de España considers a strategic priority in the context of the Financial Education Plan. It is a further example of how the Financial Education Plan partners, in this case the General Council of Economists, play an essential role in meeting the Plan’s objectives. We have continued to move resolutely in this direction: through partnership agreements such as those recently signed with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs; and by pressing ahead with the work avenues opened with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.