Norway central bank raises key rate to fight inflation
Norway’s central bank has raised its key interest rate by a quarter-percentage point, saying the move was “still needed to dampen inflation.”
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s central bank Thursday raised its key interest rate by a quarter-percentage point, saying the move was “still needed to dampen inflation.”
Norges Bank said inflation — which reached 6.5% in November — has “risen rapidly” and “is markedly above target." The hike, which brought its key policy rate to 2.75%, was a slower pace than the U.S. Federal Reserve took Wednesday.
The Swiss National Bank, Bank of England and European Central Bank followed with the same half-point increase Thursday in a busy week for central bank action.
Central banks worldwide are making borrowing more expensive to tackle inflation that surged as the global economy bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic and then was hit by the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine. The banks are starting to moderate as inflation shows some signs of easing.
