NEWS

Norway’s central bank indicated it could raise interest rates sooner than earlier anticipated after taking stock of the country’s improved economic outlook and growing signs of tightening by its counterparts around the world.

The decision comes as the European Central Bank and policy makers from Stockholm to Washington prepare to gradually unwind the record stimulus put in place after the financial crisis. Backed by its massive oil wealth and fiscal stimulus, Norway has been able to resort to less drastic monetary stimulus even as it also battled a crash in its oil industry.

See forecasts from Norges Bank here.

Regardless of what the ECB decides at its October meeting, Norway’s policy makers are unlikely to move fast ahead with higher rates. Core inflation has fallen to well below the central bank’s 2.5 percent target, coming in at 0.9 percent in August. They are also wary of stoking further gains in the krone, which has risen about 3.7 percent since a low in May.