View source for Norges Bank

{{Short description|Central bank of Norway}}
{{Infobox central bank
| name                = Norges Bank<br/>Noregs Bank
| logo                = Norges Bank Logo.svg
| image               = Norges Bank Kirkegata.jpg
| caption             = Headquarters at Bankplassen 2
| ownership           = 100% [[state ownership]]<ref name="dnbinfo">{{cite web |last1=Weidner |first1=Jan |title=The Organisation and Structure of Central Banks |url=https://d-nb.info/1138787981/34 |website=Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek|year=2017|format=PDF}}</ref>
| reserves            = 750 billion NOK (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.norges-bank.no/contentassets/138c3256a4ef46c9aacb29f9312f181e/management-of-the-foreign-exchange-reserves_q1_2024.pdf |title=Foreign exchange reserves Q1 2024 |date=24 May 2024 |access-date=4 June 2024 |publisher=Norges |page=2}}</ref>
| interest_rate_target = 4.50%<ref name="policy rate" />
| borrowing_rate      = 5.50%<ref name="policy rate" />
| deposit_rate        = 3.50%<ref name="policy rate">{{Cite web |url=https://www.norges-bank.no/en/topics/Monetary-policy/Monetary-policy-meetings/2024/may-2024/ |title=Rate decision May 2024 |date=3 May 2024 |access-date=4 June 2024 |publisher=Norges}}</ref>
| foundation          = {{Start date and age|1816|06|14|df=y|p=y}}
| headquarters        = [[Oslo]]
| executive           = [[Ida Wolden Bache]] 
| executive_title     = Governor
| currency            = [[Norwegian krone]]
| currency_iso        = NOK
| bank_of             = [[Norway]]
| website             = {{URL|http://www.norges-bank.no|norges-bank.no}}
}}
[[File:Norway bonds.webp|thumb|300px|Norway bonds
{{legend-line|#00205B solid 3px|10 year}}
{{legend-line|#61D836 solid 3px|5 year}}
{{legend-line|#929292 solid 3px|1 year}}
{{legend-line|#F8BA00 solid 3px|6 month}}
{{legend-line|#BA0C2F solid 3px|3 month}}
{{see also|Inverted yield curve}}
]]
'''Norges Bank''' ({{Langx|nb|Norges Bank}}, {{Langx|nn|Noregs Bank}}, {{Lit|Bank of Norway}}) is the [[central bank]] of Norway. It is responsible for managing the [[Government Pension Fund of Norway]], which is the world's largest [[sovereign wealth fund]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 100 Largest Sovereign Wealth Fund Rankings by Total Assets - SWFI |url=https://www.swfinstitute.org/fund-rankings/sovereign-wealth-fund |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=www.swfinstitute.org}}</ref> as well as the bank's own [[foreign exchange reserves]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.norges-bank.no/en/topics/about/ | title=About the Bank }}</ref>
==History==

The history of the central bank of Norway can be traced back to 1816, when, two years after the separation from Denmark and the union with Sweden, Norges Bank was established by an Act of the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) on 14 June. The bank then decided that the monetary unit was to be the speciedaler (rixdollar), divided into 120 skillings or five ort ("rigsort") of 24 skillings each.<ref name="Norge">{{Cite web |last=Norges Bank |title=Norge Bank's History |url=http://www.norges-bank.no/en/about/history/norges-banks-history/ |publisher=Norges Bank}}</ref>

The Money Act of 17 April 1875 discontinued the terms daler and skilling, and it was decided that the monetary unit should be a krone, divided into 100 øre. This was done to prepare for Norway's entry, on 16 October that year, into the [[Scandinavian Monetary Union]]. This union had been established between Denmark and Sweden in 1873 on the recommendation of a joint commission (in which Norway participated) to establish a common Scandinavian coin based on gold. It meant that the other countries' coins were to be legal tender on the same basis as those struck at home. The union functioned until 1914; thereafter it lacked all practical significance, but was not formally abolished until 1972.<ref name=Norge/>

On 1 January 1897 the seat of Norges Bank was moved to Kristiania (Oslo) from [[Trondheim]], and in 1906 a new headquarters building on Bankplassen was opened - for 80 employees including the workers in the banknote printing plant.<ref name=Norge/>

During the Second World War, the seat of Norges Bank was temporarily moved to London in 1940, in that the Norwegian government-in-exile established a new board. The bank's gold reserves were evacuated via Åndalsnes, Molde and Tromsø to London, and from there to New York and Ottawa. This gold and the bank's other currency reserves were under the control of the London board. At the same time, the bank continued its operations in Norway under the direction of the Nazis until the war was over and the London board stepped down. A commission of inquiry after the war concluded that the bank's Oslo management had taken a firm and correct attitude towards the Nazi authorities.<ref name=Norge/> In 1962, the Mint Supervisory Authority and the Royal Mint were transferred from the state to Norges Bank.<ref name=Norge/>

In March 2025, Norges Bank Investment Management announced that it has acquired a 49% stake in two offshore wind farms under construction in Denmark and Germany from RWE for 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion). The purchase includes stakes in RWE's Nordseecluster and Thor wind projects, expected to have a combined capacity of 2.64 gigawatts, enough to power over 2.6 million households. The deal reduces RWE’s net cash investments by about 4 billion euros, while RWE will continue to handle construction and operation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 31, 2025 |title=Norway sovereign wealth fund buys offshore wind farms stakes for $1.5 bln |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/norway-sovereign-wealth-fund-buys-stake-two-offshore-wind-farms-rwe-2025-03-31/}}</ref>

==Norges Bank Investment Management==
{{No references|section|date=September 2022}}
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) is a separate branch of Norges Bank and is responsible for the management of the [[Government Pension Fund of Norway#Government Pension Fund Global|Government Pension Fund - Global]]. NBIM also manages Norges Bank's [[foreign exchange reserves]]. NBIM invests the fund's assets and the foreign exchange reserves in international [[Share capital|equities]] and [[fixed income]] [[Financial instrument|instrument]]s, [[money market]] instruments and [[derivative (finance)|derivatives]].

==List of Central Bank Governors==
The following is a list of past and present governors of the Norges Bank. The Act of 1892 gave the board a permanent chairman. In 1985 the term Executive Board was introduced, and the chairman was entitled Governor of the Central Bank, the following people have served as chairmen and governors.<ref name="Governors">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Governors of Norges Bank |url=https://www.norges-bank.no/en/topics/about/history/Chairs-of-Norges-Banks-Executive-Board-/ |archive-url= |archive-date= |website=norges-bank.no |date=April 1, 2022 |access-date=April 2, 2022}}</ref>

*[[Karl Gether Bomhoff]] (1893&ndash;1920)
*[[Nicolai Rygg]] (1920&ndash;1946)
*[[Arnold C. Ræstad]] (head of the London branch 1940&ndash;1945)
*[[Gunnar Jahn]] (1946&ndash;1954)
*[[Erik Brofoss]] (1954&ndash;1970)
*[[Knut Getz Wold]] (1970&ndash;1985)
*[[Hermod Skånland]] (1985&ndash;1993)
*[[Torstein Moland]] (1994&ndash;1995)
*[[Kjell Storvik]] (1996&ndash;1998)
*[[Svein Gjedrem]] (1999&ndash;2010)
*[[Øystein Olsen (economist)|Øystein Olsen]] (2011&ndash;2022)
*[[Ida Wolden Bache]] (2022&ndash;''present'')
===London branch===
*[[Arnold C. Ræstad]] (head of the London branch 1940&ndash;1945)

==See also==
*[[Economy of Norway]]
*[[Norwegian krone]]
*[[Gold reserves of Norway]]
* [[List of central banks]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.norges-bank.no/ Official site: Norges Bank] {{in lang|no}}
* [http://www.norges-bank.no/en/ Official site: Norges Bank] {{in lang|en}}
{{Portal|Banks}}

{{Norwegian state banks}}
{{Norway topics}}
{{Central banks by country}}

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[[Category:Government agencies of Norway]]
[[Category:Central banks|Norway]]
[[Category:Banks of Norway]]
[[Category:Economy of Oslo]]
[[Category:Banks established in 1816]]
[[Category:Norwegian companies established in 1816]]