Establishment of primary dealer system for Norwegian Treasury bills

Effective 18 August 2003, Norges Bank is establishing a primary dealer system for Norwegian Treasury bills. A similar agreement has existed for the government bond market since 1995.

Norges Bank has entered into a primary dealer agreement with six brokerage firms. The firms are obligated to quote prices for Treasury bills in the Oslo Stock Exchange's sub-market with automatic order matching and to generally contribute to liquidity in Norwegian Treasury bill trading. In exchange, the dealers are given the possibility of making repurchase agreements with Norges Bank in Treasury bills.

The following brokerage firms have been selected as primary dealers in Norwegian Treasury bills for 2003:

Brokerage firm	OSE ID	Contact	Telephone
DnB Markets	DNM	Mette Pedersen	+47 2201 7753
Fokus Markets	FT	Jens Houbak-Jensen	+47 2405 5470
Gjensidige Nor Markets	GNM	Leif Christensen	+47 2231 8052
Nordea Markets	NM	Per Inge Heggem	+47 2248 7733
Skandinaviske Enskilda Banken	SEB	Thor Harald Skaret	+47 2282 7264
Svenska Handelsbanken Markets	SHB	Mats Sjöholm	+46 8701 1580

Norges Bank's quoting of prices in the Treasury bills market will cease when the primary dealer agreements become effective.

The primary dealer agreement will be published on Norges Bank's website under Government debt, www.norges-bank.no. For further information, please contact Director Asbjørn Fidjestøl, Tel. 2231 6178.