Financial institutions, money and credit

This chapter contains financial statistics relating to the financial institutions, the bond and share market, foreign assets and liabilities and financial sector balance sheets. It also covers money stock and liquidity, interest rates and foreign exchange rates.

The statistics are mainly based on accounting information of all categories of financial institutions, inter alia Bank of Norway, commercial and saving banks, other financial institutions, and insurance companies. In addition information about the security market and foreign exchange rates is gathered from the Norwegian Registry of Securities and the Oslo Stock Exchange. As part of the annual census on foreign assets and liabilities data are also collected from all Norwegian business enterprises and institutions known to have assets and/or liabilities abroad.

The financial statistics are adapted to the principles and definitions of the national accounts and the UN's standard for the set up of balance sheet tables.

Further details are given in the periodical "Banking and Credit Statistics. Current Figures", containing mainly monthly and quarterly statistical series. No. 24/92 also includes a brief description of the sources and the methods used in preparing the financial statistics and in constructing the estimates of the financial assets and liabilities (the financial sector balance sheets). Before 1986/87 more detailed information is found in the NOS Credit Market Statistics. The first financial sector balance sheets figures were presented in Credit Market Statistics (NOS XI 281) in the middle of the 1950s, covering the years 1952-1955.

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