Norges Bank Sets September Net Foreign-Currency Purchases at NOK 176 Million a Day

Norges Bank will switch to net foreign-currency purchases equivalent to NOK 176 million per day in September, reversing the net sales of NOK 474 million per day that it carried out for the same combined purposes in August. The central bank announced the September amount on Aug. 31, following its regular practice of publishing the next month’s conversion level on the final business day of the current month.

The new net figure combines two separate flows that move in opposite directions. Norges Bank will purchase foreign currency equivalent to NOK 300 million per day on behalf of the government, while it will sell foreign currency equivalent to NOK 124 million per day to fund dividend and interest transfers to the government. Those amounts leave a net foreign-currency purchase of NOK 176 million per day.

September reverses the government-side flow

In its Aug. 31 release, Norges Bank said the government-side conversion will change from selling foreign currency in August to buying it in September. The August plan called for foreign-currency sales equivalent to NOK 350 million per day on behalf of the government, alongside the same NOK 124 million daily sale tied to dividend and interest transfers. That produced August’s NOK 474 million daily net sale.

The shift in the combined number is therefore entirely explained by the government-side component. Moving from a NOK 350 million daily foreign-currency sale in August to a NOK 300 million daily purchase in September is a NOK 650 million swing. The separate NOK 124 million daily sale remains unchanged, turning the overall flow from a net sale in August to a net purchase in September.

Norges Bank recalculates the government’s conversion need as the year progresses rather than fixing one daily level for the whole year. Its published guidance says the annual requirement depends on the relationship between petroleum revenues received in Norwegian kroner and the amount of petroleum revenue used through the government budget. Updated forecasts are then distributed across the remaining business days, so the announced daily amount can change as information about petroleum income and the non-oil deficit develops.

For the government conversion program, Norges Bank says it trades NOK against the euro because that is the most liquid currency cross for the krone. The conversions are spread through the day and conducted with Norwegian and international banks. The central bank also states that these operations are separate from monetary policy, an important distinction because the monthly figures can create a recurring official flow in the currency market without representing an exchange-rate target.

Petroleum revenue mechanics sit behind the monthly number

Norway’s petroleum revenues arrive in both NOK and foreign currency. The government uses part of those revenues to cover spending associated with the non-oil budget deficit, while the portion not used through the budget is saved in foreign currency through the Government Pension Fund Global, or GPFG. Norges Bank performs the currency conversions needed to move between those two sides of the system on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance describes the fiscal rule as a long-term guideline under which withdrawals from the GPFG should, over time, follow the fund’s expected real return, currently estimated at 3%. The framework channels the state’s petroleum revenues into the fund and permits transfers back to the budget to finance the oil-adjusted deficit approved by parliament. That fiscal framework sets the broader context, while Norges Bank handles the practical currency conversion required by the resulting NOK and foreign-currency cash flows.

Direction matters in understanding the monthly announcement. When petroleum revenues received in NOK exceed the amount that needs to be used for the budget and related petroleum expenses, the government has a need to sell NOK and purchase foreign currency for saving in the GPFG. When NOK petroleum revenues are insufficient, foreign currency can instead be sold to obtain NOK. September’s government-side purchase is on the first side of that mechanism, although the central bank smooths conversions over the year rather than matching each month’s trading amount directly to that month’s cash receipts.

A petroleum buffer portfolio helps Norges Bank manage those timing differences. The bank says the portfolio allows foreign-exchange conversions to be spread through the year despite variations in oil-tax payments, foreign-currency revenue from the State’s Direct Financial Interest and transfers to or from the GPFG. That smoothing is another reason the announced September amount should be read as an operational conversion schedule rather than a simple snapshot of one month’s petroleum receipts.

A fixed NOK-purchase program still offsets the total

The NOK 124 million daily foreign-currency sale in September comes from a separate program to fund Norges Bank’s transfer of dividends and interest to the government for the 2025 financial year. The Executive Board decided in December 2025 to buy NOK by selling foreign currency from the central bank’s reserves, with the purchases spread over trading days from March 2026 through February 2027.

Norges Bank later set the combined dividend and interest transfer at NOK 29.4 billion. Its 2025 annual report said NOK 20.1 billion of that amount would be transferred to the government as a dividend. The central bank has said the conversion need for the full dividend-and-interest funding program will not change during the March 2026 to February 2027 period, which is why the NOK 124 million daily component carries over unchanged from August into September.

The funding method reflects a change in how those transfers are neutralized in the banking system. Norges Bank explained that the government stopped issuing debt for this purpose from the beginning of 2025. By selling foreign currency and buying NOK, the central bank drains liquidity from the banking system and prevents the government’s subsequent spending of the transferred funds from raising banks’ deposits at Norges Bank over the longer term.

For September, the arithmetic leaves Norges Bank as a net buyer of foreign currency and therefore a net seller of NOK equivalent to NOK 176 million per day across the two programs. The central bank has stressed that the conversions are not intended to steer the krone and that market operations are structured for transparency and limited market impact. Its next scheduled publication of monthly foreign-exchange conversion amounts is set for Sept. 30 at 10 a.m., when it will announce the level for October.