It is an original member of the IMF and the World Bank, and is represented on the Executive Boards of both institutions together with seven other countries in the Nordic-Baltic Constituency. In line with its long-held policy of supporting multilateral institutions, Norway entered into a bilateral loan agreement with the IMF in the first half of 2009, when the IMF urgently needed to strengthen its lending capacity. Later in 2009, Norway agreed to raise its commitment under the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and expanded its voluntary transactions in SDRs following the large allocations. It also committed to support IMF lending facilities for low-income countries. Thus, Norway has actively backed the multilateral responses to the global crisis, in large part stemming from decisions of the G20 at the London Summit in April 2009. Norway has a strong external and fiscal position based on large petroleum revenues. The lion’s share of the revenues is invested abroad through our sovereign wealth fund. 1  The membership of the G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. The G20 was formed as a new forum for cooperation and consultation on matters pertaining to the international financial system. It studies, reviews, and promotes discussion among key industrial and emerging market countries of policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability, and seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.
Affordability risks of new mortgages financing residential investment property are high and have risen further. These developments have taken place against a background of persistent imbalances in the mortgage and real estate markets. Both mortgage-lending volume and prices for single-family houses and apartments continued to rise at a moderate rate in 2019. Although prices of residential investment property have stagnated of late, there is still a risk of a price correction in this segment in particular. On the one hand, this is due to the sharp price increases in previous years. On the other, larger numbers of vacant dwellings suggest that brisk construction activity in rental apartments may have led to an oversupply. Despite banks’ high risk appetite and the persistent imbalances in the markets, SNB stress tests suggest that the resilience of the domestically focused banks remains adequate overall. Thanks to robust capitalisation, most of these banks would be able to absorb the losses incurred in adverse scenarios. Given the risks I just mentioned, this is positive. It is crucial for the stability of the financial system that banks continue to hold sufficient capital to be able to cover the risks on their books. Ongoing pressure on margins means that the incentive for domestically focused banks to take on risks remains high. This applies to mortgage lending in particular. The revised selfregulation rules for banks in the residential investment property segment, which come into force at the beginning of 2020, should help to prevent a further build-up of risks in this segment.