The framework for setting Nibor, the Norwegian interbank lending rate, has "obvious weaknesses" and a new one should be established "as soon as possible", proposed Norges Bank governor Øystein Olsen last week in a letter to the country's financial supervisory authority.

He suggested the central bank should be given "more formal" responsibility over Nibor, which is currently under the purview of Finance Norway, a bank lobby group.

"Through legal amendment, Norges Bank could be designated the