Norway central bank keeps rate on hold, as expected

Norway's central bank kept ‌its policy interest rate on hold at 4.50% on Thursday, as unanimously predicted by ‌economists in a Reuters poll, and reiterated ‌that it may still tighten policy to contain inflation.

"It will likely be necessary to ⁠keep ​the ⁠policy rate elevated for a time, and we ⁠are prepared to raise the policy rate ​if needed to bring inflation down ⁠to target within a reasonable time horizon," ⁠Norges ​Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache said in a statement. The Norwegian crown ⁠currency weakened slightly to 10.44 against the ⁠euro ⁠at 0905 GMT, from 10.43 just before the announcement.