Contacts in the regional network in Central Norway believe that a rise in retail trade and household services is contributing somewhat to growth in the region, as is the case in the rest of the country. Growth now appears to be strong enough to hold up the level of employment. Manufacturing output increased slightly in the previous quarter. There is continued growth in retail trade. 1  Gjelsvik, M and T. Høyvarde Clausen. (2003). Verdiskapingsevnen i norske storbyregioner. Rapport 2003/144. Rogalandsforskning. BIS Review 50/2003  7  The construction industry continues to report some growth in Central Norway. Increased activity in rural districts has reduced the previous differences between urban and rural areas. House sales are on the increase and there has been an appreciable rise in house prices. A rise in the number of new orders in manufacturing and the construction industry is generating expectations that growth will continue. Most markets report intensified competition. This is partly a result of a rise in imports in some industries and increased capacity in retail trade. Margins are being reduced. In Central Norway, as in the rest of the country, lower interest rates have contributed to more positive expectations concerning future developments. There are wide regional variations in unemployment. At the end of October, 3.9 per cent of the labour force in Central Norway was registered as unemployed. This is slightly higher than the national average of 3.8 per cent.
Going back to your question about Japan, all of this is very much with the intent of avoiding the situation of deflation that Japan had from the mid-1990s to about 2013. That was a very costly episode to have and we are intent on making sure inflation goes back to target in order to avoid that situation. What would you say to the criticism – and it’s been quite loud in some eurozone countries – that the ECB has been deaf to some of the side effects of its policies, say, in particular towards savers and pensioners? At any time when the interest rate goes down, it clearly has a different effect on those who have a mortgage and those who have a lot of debt — governments and corporates — than it does on those households that are maybe saving for retirement, those who are accumulating funds and pension funds. That has always been true. Monetary policy has different effects on savers and debtors. What is true at the moment is that this episode has been going on for years now. We have had very low interest rates for a long time and that does have implications for the financial system and for these groups. Going back to the previous question, if we did not pursue these policies then the medium-term scenario would be worse. If inflation gets worse, if it gets lower, if it gets locked in at a low rate, then the prospects for interest rates recovering in the future would be less.