Norges Bank's credit indicator (C2) rose by 13.7 per cent in the twelve months to end-April, down from 13.9 per cent in the 12 months to end-March. Growth in the three-month moving average for C2 was 14.2 per cent at end-March, down from 14.3 per cent at end-February. C2 is an approximate measure of the size of the gross domestic debt of the public (households, non-financial enterprises and municipalities) in NOK and foreign exchange. Twelve-month growth in credit to households was 13.0 per cent to end-April, down from 13.4 per cent at end-March. Credit to non-financial enterprises increased by 17.0 per cent in the twelve months to end-April, up from 16.8 per cent in the 12 months to the end of the previous month.

The money supply grew by 9.9 per cent in the twelve months to end-April, up from 9.3 per cent to end-March. The money supply consists of notes and coins, bank deposits and certificates of deposit owned by households, non-financial enterprises and municipalities and financial enterprises other than state lending institutions and banks. Twelve-month growth in the household money supply was 5.1 per cent to end-April, down from 5.4 per cent to end-March. The money supply of non-financial enterprises rose by 28.3 per cent to end-April, compared with 22.5 per cent to the end of the previous month.

Banks' interest margin declined by 0.09 percentage point in the first quarter of 2006, to 2.29 per cent. The lending rate rose by 0.08 percentage point, to 4.08 per cent, while the deposit rate rose by 0.16 percentage point, to 1.78 per cent, by the end of the quarter. Interest rates on loans from life insurance companies edged down by 0.02 percentage point, to 3.99 per cent, while the lending rates of mortgage companies increased by 0.02 percentage point, to 3.43 per cent, by the end of the quarter.