Norway’s Shock Rate Cut Drives Krone to Lowest Since 2009
This article is for subscribers only.
Norway’s central bank cut its main interest rate for the first time in more than two years and signaled it may ease again next year as plunging oil prices threaten growth in western Europe’s biggest crude exporter.
The rate was lowered by 0.25 percentage point to 1.25 percent, the Oslo-based bank said today. The cut was forecast by only one of the 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, while the rest saw unchanged rates. The bank sees a “50-50 chance” for another rate cut next year, Governor Oeystein Olsen said at a press conference.