Norway central bank raises rate to 3% as expected, says May hike likely

Norway's central bank raised its key policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.0% on Thursday, as expected by almost all economists surveyed by Reuters, and said it aimed for another hike in May and raise it further to hit 3.5% in summer.

Of the 26 economists polled in advance, 25 had anticipated an increase of 25 bps on Thursday while one had bet on an increase of 50 bps.