Norway central bank cuts rates to zero to curb coronavirus impact

Norway's central bank has cut its key policy interest rate to a record-low 0.0% from 0.25%, it said on Thursday in a surprise move, seeking to cushion an economy reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most economists polled by Reuters had predicted rates would stay on hold. It was Norges Bank's third rate cut in less than two months, slashing the cost of borrowing from 1.5%.

"We do not envisage making further policy rate cuts," Governor Oeystein Olsen said in a statement.