Norway's central bank raised its main interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.5 percent on Thursday, warning that inflation remains too high, Ednews informs via Agence France Presse.
Norges Bank said that the policy rate would likely be kept at that level for some time ahead given its current assessment of the outlook and the balance of risks, and suggested it might not need to raise rates much further, if at all.
"The policy rate is likely close to the level required to return inflation to target within a reasonable time horizon," it said in a statement following a meeting of its monetary policy committee.
Other main central banks are holding rates as high interest rates bring down inflation and economies are slowing. The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday signalled it would likely cut rates three times next year.
Norway's central bank's forecast has its policy rate staying around 4.5 percent until autumn 2024 before gradually moving down.
Norges Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache acknowledged that the Norwegian economy was cooling down but said inflation remained too high.
Consumer prices excluding volatile energy prices and adjusted for tax changes came in at 5.8 percent in November.
"An increase in the policy rate now reduces the risk of inflation remaining high for a long period of time," she said.