OSLO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian central bank, Norges Bank, increased key policy rate by 0.25 percentage point to 1.50 percent, online newspaper E24 reported Thursday.
The lift happened for the fourth time in the last 12 months, but the likelihood of further increases is now lower than before, the report said.
"As we now assess the outlook and the risk picture, the key policy rate is most likely to remain at this level in the near future," Oystein Olsen, the bank governor, said in a press release.
Higher interest rate can dampen the risk of debt and rapid jump of real estate prices, while a considerable uncertainty about international growth prospects calls for a cautious progress in further lifting of interest rates, the bank reported.
Kjersti Haugland, chief economist from Norway's largest bank DNB, told E24 that they had expected no changes in key policy rate.
"There was a high degree of uncertainty related to the outcome, so we were not so sure. It turns out that Norges Bank, which in June felt reasonably unaffected by its surroundings, emphasizes what is happening in the Norwegian economy, namely that growth is still good and inflation is slightly above target," she said.
"The economic growth will slow down in Norway and international development will be bad in that grade that there will be no more lifts from Norges Bank in a while," Haugland said.
