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reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=cpurl://apps.cp./Apps/cb-polls?RIC=NOINTR%3DECI poll data
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Rate announcement due on Jan. 19
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Majority of analysts expect rate to stay at 2.75% this week
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Likely to rise to 3.00% by March
OSLO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Norway's central bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.75% this week in a sign the country's policy-tightening cycle could soon end, according to a majority of economists participating in a Reuters poll.
In total, 15 of the 26 economists polled Jan. 10-16 said the Norges Bank would announce on Thursday it will maintain the current cost of borrowing, while 11 analysts predicted an increase of 25 basis points (bps) to 3.00%.
Norges Bank's monetary policy committee last month raised rates by 25 bps and said it would most likely hike again in the first quarter of 2023 as inflation remains above its target.
A majority of economists polled expected the policy rate to rise one more time, to 3.00%, in March, although some predicted it could go as high as 3.25% this year.
"The monthly national accounts suggest the economy has been more resilient to high inflation and higher rates than Norges Bank forecast," DNB Markets economist Kyrre Aamdal wrote in a note to clients.
"This supports the case for another rate hike but we think March is still much more likely than January," he added.
Norwegian households tend to favour floating-rate mortgages over those with fixed payments and thus quickly feel the impact from any central bank policy changes.
Core inflation, which excludes energy costs, stood at 5.8% in December, down from a peak of 5.9% in October but far above the central bank's target of 2.0%.
Housing prices took a hit in the second half of 2022 but appeared to steady in December, and were still up 1.5% compared to a year earlier. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo, polling by Sujith Pai in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
