Overview
- Norges Bank, which raised its policy rate by 0.25 percentage point Thursday, set it at 4.25% in a move to curb price growth.
- Governor Ida Wolden Bache said inflation has stayed above the bank’s goal for several years and remains too high.
- Underlying inflation measured 3.0% in March, above the roughly 2% target that guides the bank’s policy choices.
- The bank warned that higher oil and gas prices linked to the war and Iran’s ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could lift import costs and keep inflation elevated.
- Policy makers left the door open to more tightening, projecting a year-end rate between 4.25% and 4.50%, as the ECB reviews the shock for a possible June move, Australia has already hiked on fuel costs, and Sweden held steady.