OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a 17-year high of 4.50% on Thursday, as analysts in a Reuters poll had unanimously expected, and maintained plans to start cutting borrowing costs in March.
Economists expect Norway’s monetary policy this year to begin catching up with that of other Western central banks, most of which began cutting rates in 2024 as growth slowed and inflation eased.
“The rate will likely be cut in March,” Bank of Norway Governor Ida Wolden Bache said in a statement.
It would be the Norwegian bank’s first rate cut since May 2020.
The central bank said last month it plans to cut rates three times in 2025 to 3.75% by the end of the year. It should publish a revised forecast in March.
In their discussions, Norwegian central bank leaders expressed concern about the risk of increasing international trade barriers.
“Higher tariffs are likely to dampen global growth, but the implications for the price outlook in Norway are uncertain,” the bank said in a statement.
The Norwegian krone traded largely unchanged at 11.74 against the euro at 09:06 GMT.
All but one of 25 analysts in a Jan. 13-20 Reuters poll predicted a quarter-percentage-point rate cut to 4.25% in March, while one participant predicted a 0.50-point cut to 4, 00%.
