Norway's central bank keeps key rate unchanged at 0.50 pct

OSLO, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Norway's central bank said on Thursday its executive board has decided to maintain the key policy rate unchanged at 0.50 percent, but the rate will "most likely" be raised after summer.

The board's assessment is that the upturn in the Norwegian economy appears to be continuing broadly in line with the picture presented in the March Report, Norges Bank said in a statement.

Underlying inflation is below the inflation target, but the driving forces indicate that it will rise, it said.

In the March 2018 Monetary Policy Report, the executive board's assessment was that the economic upturn was continuing and that the output gap in the Norwegian economy was closing.

"The outlook and the balance of risks do not appear to have changed substantially since the March Report. This suggests keeping the key policy rate unchanged at this meeting," Oystein Olsen, governor of Norges Bank, was quoted as saying.

In Norway, the key policy rate, also called the sight deposit rate, is the interest rate on bank deposits up to a quota in Norges Bank. Changes in Norges Bank's key policy rate will normally have a strong impact on short-term money market rates and on banks' deposit and lending rates.

The Norwegian central bank's next rate decision will be announced on June 21. Enditem