Financial News: Norges Bank Signals Rate Hike Ahead

Norges Bank Signals Rate Hike Ahead

06/18/2026 - 13:44:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - Norway's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged on Thursday but hinted at a rate hike in one of the future sessions to bring the high inflation back to target.

The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4.25 percent at its meeting on June 17, the Norges Bank said in a statement. The bank had raised the rate by 25 basis points in May.

New information indicates that inflation pressures are slightly stronger than we had anticipated earlier, Governor Ida Wolden Bache said.

"We expect that a somewhat tighter monetary policy stance will be needed to bring inflation down to target within a reasonable time horizon," Bache said. "If developments turn out as currently envisaged, the policy rate will be raised at one of the forthcoming monetary policy meetings."

Norges Bank said that the policy rate forecast was a little higher than in March and stands just above 4.5 percent at the end of the year. The bank expects inflation to decline from 2027 and reach 2.0 percent in 2029.

There is substantial uncertainty about the economic outlook, the bank said.

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