Our Banks Can Handle Zero Rates, Norway Says
- Nordea Bank sees three rate cuts this year to zero percent
- Policy makers may be hesitant to go negative, Nordea says
An advertisement for Marc Jacobs fashion brand sits in the window of an optical store beside a DNB ASA minibank in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. The nation could as soon as next year start making withdrawals from its massive $830 billion sovereign wealth fund, which it has built over the past two decades as a nest egg for 'future generations.'
Photographer: Krister Soerboe/BloombergWith talk swirling about the Norwegian interest rate heading to zero, the nation’s finance minister is confident its banks can withstand the added pressure to their balance sheets.
“The Norwegian banking system is very robust and has been able to adjust quickly to the new demands in regulatory framework,” Siv Jensen said Thursday in an interview after a speech in Oslo. “They are robust enough to face changing economic times in Norway.”