Statement to the Supervisory Council of Norges Bank
NORGES BANK INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT – ANNUAL REPORT 2006
We have audited the financial statements in Section 5.4 in Norges Bank
Investment Management – Annual Report 2006 for the Government
Pension Fund – Global, Norges Bank's investment portfolio and Norges
Bank's buffer portfolio, which on 31 December 2006 had portfolio values of
NOK 1 782 139, 224 515 and 23 688 billion respectively. We have also
audited compliance with quantitative provisions for management and risk
exposure according to the regulation concerning management of the
Government Pension Fund – Global and the Executive Board's
guidelines for management of the Bank's foreign exchange reserves. The
Annual Report is submitted by Norges Bank's Executive Board. Our
responsibility is to form an opinion on the financial statements and
compliance with the aforementioned relevant guidelines.
The basis for the audit of the annual report is our audit of Norges
Bank's annual accounts, including the portfolios mentioned above. Our
audit report on the Bank's financial statements for 2006 was submitted on
8 February 2007. Our statement does not include the Government Petroleum
Insurance Fund, which is not included in the Bank's annual accounts (see
Section 5.1 in the Annual Report for a more detailed description of the
organisation of accounting and audit).
We have conducted our audit in accordance with instructions issued by
Norges Bank's Supervisory Council and with good auditing practice in
Norway, including auditing standards adopted by Den norske Revisorforening
(Norwegian Institute of Public Accountants), and submit our statement in
accordance with auditing standard RS 800 "Auditors' report on special
purpose audit assignments". These auditing standards require that we
plan and perform the audit so as to obtain reasonable assurance that the
financial statements are free of material misstatements and that
management is carried out according to the relevant guidelines. Our audit
includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements. We have verified that the
reporting of accounts is consistent with Norges Bank's financial
statements for 2006. Our audit also includes examining, on a test basis,
the information supporting compliance with relevant guidelines. We believe
that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
In our opinion,
- the report on the accounts provides a true and fair presentation of
the portfolio values as of 31 December 2006 and of the return for the
accounting year in accordance with the annual financial statements of
Norges Bank
- the portfolios are managed in compliance with quantitative provisions
according to regulations and guidelines
For a complete accounts presentation of investment management at Norges
Bank and a description of the scope of the audit, the Annual Report should
be read in the context of the Bank's financial statements and the audit
report for 2006.
Oslo, 8 February 2007
Svenn Erik Forsstrøm
Central Bank Auditor
State Authorised Public Accountant (Norway)
