Economic developments in Norway and abroad have been broadly in line with expectations. Against this background, the key policy rate remains unchanged”, says Governor Øystein Olsen.
Economic growth among Norway’s main trading partners is still moderate. There are prospects that it may take even longer for key rates abroad to increase.
In Norway, bank lending and deposit rates for households and enterprises have decreased somewhat. House price inflation has picked up again in recent months, and house prices are slightly higher than projected in the March 2014 Monetary Policy Report. A phone survey of a limited sample of enterprises in Norges Bank’s regional network indicates that output growth has been somewhat weaker than they had envisaged in February. Unemployment has been fairly stable.
So far, the spring 2014 wage settlement indicates that wage developments will be broadly in line with expectations. Consumer price inflation has also been approximately in line with projections.