RTTNews | Jan 20, 2022 05:05AM EST

05:05 Thursday, January 20, 2022 (RTTNews.com) - Norway's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged on Thursday and reiterated that the policy rate will most likely be raised in March.

The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee of Norges Bank unanimously decided to hold the policy rate at 0.50 percent. The bank had raised its rate by a quarter-point in December.

"Based on the Committee's current assessment of the outlook and balance of risks, the policy rate will most likely be raised in March," Governor ystein Olsen, said.

The governor said monetary policy is expansionary. In the Committee's assessment, the objective of stabilizing inflation around the target somewhat further out suggests that the policy rate should be raised towards a more normal level.

Whereas the Bank's plans to tighten policy were originally motivated by financial stability risks, consumer price pressures are a growing concern and reinforce the case for policy tightening, Andrew Kenningham, an economist at Capital Economics, said.

The Norges Bank will raise rates four times this year, bringing them to 1.5 percent, which is a little more than is currently priced into financial markets, the economist added.

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