Monetary Policy Report 1 09 March Reports from the Central Bank of Norway No. 1/2009 Monetary Policy Report 1/2009 Norges Bank Oslo 2009 Address: Bankplassen 2 Postal Address: Postboks 1179 Sentrum, 0107 Oslo Phone: +47 22 31 60 00 Fax: +47 22 41 31 05 E-mail:
[email protected] Website: http://www.norges-bank.no Governor: Svein Gjedrem Deputy Governor: Jan F. Qvigstad Editor: Svein Gjedrem Cover and design: Burson-Marsteller Printing: 07 Lobo Media AS The text is set in 10½ point Times New Roman / 9½ point Univers ISSN 1504-8470 (print) ISSN 1504-8497 (online) Monetary Policy Report The Report is published three times a year, in March, June and October/November. The Report assesses the inte- rest rate outlook and includes projections for developments in the Norwegian economy and analyses of selected themes. At its meeting on 17 December, the Executive Board discussed relevant themes for the Report. At the Executive Board meeting on 12 March, the economic outlook was discussed. On the basis of this discussion and a recommendation from Norges Bank’s management, the Executive Board adopted a monetary policy strategy for the period to the publication of the next Report on 17 June 2009 at the meeting held on 25 March. The Executive Board’s summary of the economic outlook and the monetary policy strategy are presented in Section 1. In the period to the next Report, the Executive Board’s monetary policy meetings will be held on 6 May and 17 June. 4 Table of Contents Editorial 7 1.