NEWS

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s central bank raised its main interest rate on Thursday, as expected, and said it may hike again in September and in the first half of 2020 as domestic strength trumps a global economic slowdown, strengthening the crown currency.

The bank raised its key policy rate to 1.25% from 1.0%, in line with the forecast of 27 of 29 economists in a Reuters poll.

Following the unanimous decision, the crown rose 1% to trade at 9.6713 to the euro at 0915 GMT, and was up by 1.6% for the day against the dollar to 8.5634.

“Our current assessment of the outlook and balance of risks suggests that the policy rate will most likely be increased further in the course of 2019,” Governor Oeystein Olsen said in a statement.

Read entire article HERE.