Norges Bank Watch 2008

Abstract

Norges Bank has gone a long way in being open about its decisions and it is one of the most transparent central banks; this report makes a few recommendations about further improving the bank in this respect. Since Norges Bank already has a history of many years of transparency about its decisions and the principles used to make these decisions, it is possible to make a retrospective analysis and evaluate the bank. We think that evaluating and discussing the monetary policy of Norges Bank should also be an essential part of openness, and the Norges Bank Watch is an ideal forum for this. As monetary policy affects the economy with a time lag, many decisions must be based on forecasts. Therefore an important part of our evaluation will be about the forecasting methodology of Norges Bank. Good forecasts need good data, and given the current lack of reliable real-time data for the Norwegian economy, we would like to urge a solution to this problem even though the responsibility for solving it partly lies outside Norges Bank.