The governor of the central bank about the mush about the weak krone exchange rate – Document

Central bank governor Ida Wolden Bache denies that the weak krone exchange rate has anything to do with politics. Instead, she portrays it as if the problem suddenly fell down from above one day and is impossible to understand.

This Dadaist Theater of Ignorance™ is not so dissimilar to the acting that can be observed when those responsible for the high electricity prices have access to the regime media to explain how things are (not) connected.

The discipline is strikingly often observed in several of the contemporary political areas.

– There are many conditions that can be important.

– Different themes affect the currency market at different times.

– Difficult to explain all movements in the krone exchange rate.

Vague statements like this fell on a conveyor belt from Wolden Bache’s mouth during the Finance Committee’s open hearing this week. The topic was the Financial Market Report for 2024.

“The weak krona has left analysts scratching their heads”, writes e24.

This is the same publication that only a little over a week ago was able to report that Norges Bank surprisingly chose to increase sales of Norwegian kroner from NOK 350 to 550 million per day, despite a record weak krone.

The sale goes to income for the Oil Fund’s international investments.

Storting representative Tellef Inge Mørland (Ap) asked in the hearing about the extent to which the weaker krone exchange rate is due to political factors.

– We are talking to international banks that operate in this market. That is not what they are primarily pointing to, deduced Wolden Bache.

Judging by the e24 article, the Oil Fund’s role as a potential currency influencer was not mentioned a word. The fund’s paper value increases as a direct result of the weakened krone.

More specifically, the weak krone exchange rate in the first quarter of this year contributed to an increase in the fund’s value of NOK 647 billion, we can read on the fund’s website. It is therefore quite profitable, at least on paper, for a few tens of percent of Norwegians’ hard-earned krone values ​​to be conjured away.

Wolden Bache also did not discuss whether the government’s tax policy, other framework conditions, policy design and possibly the needs of the export industries could have something to say about the value of the krone.