Economic news

Norway central bank raises rate to 15-year high, with more to come

2023.06.22 04:55


© Reuters. A view shows the building of Norway’s central bank (Norges Bank) in Oslo, Norway, June 23, 2022. REUTERS/Victoria Klesty/FILE PHOTO

By Victoria Klesty

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s central bank raised its key policy rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 3.75% on Thursday in a bid to curb inflation, more than expected by a majority of economists surveyed by Reuters, and said it aimed for another hike in August.

Of the 32 economists polled in advance, 24 had anticipated an increase of 25 bps on Thursday while eight had bet on an increase of 50 bps.

The central bank predicted the policy rate would rise to 4.25% during the autumn.

“If we do not raise the policy rate, prices and wages could continue to rise rapidly and inflation become entrenched,” Norges Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache said in a statement.

The Norwegian currency, the crown, strengthened to 11.55 against the euro at 0807 GMT from 11.69 just before the announcement.

In May, Norges Bank said it would “most likely” hike again in June, and official data has since shown higher-than-expected growth in consumer prices and a brighter outlook for many Norwegian companies.

“Today’s hawkish decision shows that Norges Bank means business and is concerned about inflation becoming entrenched,” analysts at Nordea said in a note to clients.

“The decision is justified given that inflation has come in markedly higher than anticipated,” Nordea added.

The hike raises the policy rate to its highest level since the outbreak of the global financial crisis of 2008.

While Norway in 2021 was among the first Western nations to hike rates after the pandemic, its speed of tightening has been slower than in the neighbouring eurozone, hitting the currency.

The European Central Bank last week raised its key policy rate and is expected to hike again, while the U.S. Federal Reserve left the cost of borrowing on hold, but signalled that its campaign of tightening will resume.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 76,080.38 1.56%
vested-xor
Vested XOR (VXOR) $ 3,405.08 99,999.99%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,849.73 6.82%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.03%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 195.30 4.58%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 599.56 2.32%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999913 0.09%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 0.552466 3.28%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.192955 0.78%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,849.46 6.84%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.390088 9.75%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.160326 2.08%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 4.88 2.79%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,377.99 7.66%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 27.47 3.68%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 75,907.34 1.39%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000019 1.21%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,848.44 6.75%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 12.39 4.24%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 381.38 2.47%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.32 2.89%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 4.13 1.29%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 6.25 0.14%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.10%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 9.04 2.12%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 71.59 2.97%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,999.74 6.79%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 4.20 1.55%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 9.66 3.50%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00001 10.65%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 510.63 1.87%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.41 0.34%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 7.68 0.58%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.15%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 166.32 2.28%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 19.96 3.74%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.118631 0.07%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.099776 3.73%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.10%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 185.58 9.44%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 19.42 0.69%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.343302 4.56%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 1.67 0.58%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.090724 7.50%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 40.26 3.08%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 2.36 0.83%
first-digital-usd
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 0.997313 0.63%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.575291 9.14%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.667099 12.98%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 3.73 2.66%