Chart 6. NOK bonds issued outside Norway Total outstanding. In billions of NOK 100  100  80  80  60  60  40  40  20  20 0  0 2000  2001  2002  2003  Source: Norges Bank  This is reflected in the international market for bonds issued in NOK. Last year, such bond issues amounted to more than NOK 50 billion. Both foreign and Norwegian companies were issuers and a number of small and large foreign investors and Norwegian companies - primarily life insurance companies - were buyers. The relationships in the foreign exchange market are unstable. New shifts in the world economy may reduce interest in the krone. Chart 7. Relative labour costs Deviation from historical average. Per cent 20  20  31 January 2003  15  15  10  10  5  5  0  0 -5  -5  Common currency  -10  -10 -15  -15 1970  1975  1980  1985  1990  1995  2000  Sources: TRCIS/IMF, Ministry of Finance and Norges Bank  As a result of the strong krone and a high wage level, competitiveness in business and industry is close to 15 per cent weaker than the average for the past 30 years. Historically, following such substantial deviations, competitiveness has always returned to the average fairly rapidly.
SGFinDex uses the national digital identity and a centrally managed online consent system to enable Singaporeans to access their financial information held across different government agencies and financial institutions. Singaporeans can seamlessly consolidate their financial information, and use digital tools to make holistic financial planning decisions. 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  Singapore is now looking at how our digital infrastructures can be made interoperable and connected with the rest of the world. The PromptPay-PayNow connectivity that links domestic payments between Thailand and Singapore will go live very soon. India’s Rupay and Singapore’s NETS were connected last year to make merchant payments interoperable. But linking payment systems bilaterally is complex and expensive, due to the different technical and data standards as well as legal regimes. We must explore multilateral cross-border payments in a more scalable way. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub Centre in Singapore is exploring how payment systems could be linked together to enable faster and cheaper cross-border payments. There is strong synergy between the BIS Innovation Hub’s work on a cross-border payments bridge with MAS’ work on foundational digital infrastructures. MAS plans to collaborate with the BIS Innovation Hub to explore opportunities to improve cross-border payments by connecting payment systems to digital identities across borders. We are also engaging financial regulators and central banks globally on their digital infrastructure initiatives to explore similar synergies and opportunities to move forward as a global digital community.