Norges Bank maintains its Key Policy Rate at 4.50%, as expected; " It will likely be necessary to keep the policy rate elevated for a time, and we are prepared to raise the policy rate if needed"

Governor Bache: “Inflation is too high. It will likely be necessary to keep the policy rate elevated for a time, and we are prepared to raise the policy rate if needed to bring inflation down to target within a reasonable time horizon”. Monetary Policy: The Committee judges that a restrictive monetary policy is still needed to bring inflation down to target within a reasonable time horizon. The Committee has not received information indicating that the outlook for the Norwegian economy has changed materially since its monetary policy meeting in September. The Committee’s current assessment of the outlook implies that it will likely be necessary to keep the policy rate elevated for a time. The Committee is prepared to raise the policy rate if warranted by the inflation outlook. Inflation: Inflation has been above target for several years. The conflicts in the Middle East are still creating substantial uncertainty about the inflation outlook. In Norway, inflation has evolved broadly as projected. Economy: Capacity utilisation in the Norwegian economy has declined and appears to be slightly below a normal level. Both LFS data and registered unemployment statistics indicate little change in unemployment in recent months NOK: The krone has appreciated and is stronger than assumed.