Income from equity and fixed income investments was approximately NOK 40.9 billion, owing in part to strong equity markets and falling interest rates. A further depreciation of the krone in 2019 resulted in net foreign exchange gains of NOK 7 billion.

The market value of the foreign exchange reserves at year-end 2019 was NOK 546.3 billion, an increase of NOK 34.5 billion from year-end 2018. The foreign exchange reserves are primarily invested in government bonds, listed equities and cash.

The return on the foreign exchange reserves, excluding the petroleum buffer portfolio, was 7.8 percent in 2019, in international currency terms. The return on equity investments was 28.3 percent and 2.9 percent on fixed income investments.

Operating expenses amounted to NOK 5.4 billion in 2019, a decline from NOK 5.7 billion in 2018, which partly reflects lower fees for external managers of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG). The decline was partly offset by somewhat higher personnel expenses resulting from foreign currency effects, higher performance-based pay owing to strong GPFG returns  and ordinary wage growth. Of total operating expenses in 2019, NOK 4.3 billion was related to the management of the GPFG, compared with NOK 4.5 billion in 2018.

Norges Bank’s total comprehensive income for 2019 showed a profit of NOK 43.8 billion. Equity after allocations totalled NOK 263.8 billion at year-end. In line with current guidelines, NOK 19.7 billion will be transferred to the Treasury in 2020 Q1.

The GPFG returned 19.9 percent, or NOK 1 692 billion in 2019. Norges Bank’s financial statements include the financial reporting of the GPFG, which is also presented in the GPFG annual report. See the press release issued in connection with the publication of the GPFG annual report for 2019.

Annual report 2019