Poll: Norway's central bank to hold rates at 4.0% on Thursday
19/01/2026 13:07
reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=cpurl://apps.cp./Apps/cb-polls?RIC=NOINTR%3DECI poll data By Jagoda Darlak GDANSK, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Norway's central bank will leave its policy rate at 4.0% on Thursday, all 27 economists in a Reuters poll published on Monday said. Norges Bank said in December, when it also held rates, that it expected to cut borrowing costs once or twice in the coming year. The median prediction of the poll, carried out over January 14-19, showed analysts expect rate cuts of 25 basis points in the second and fourth quarters of 2026, taking the policy rate to 3.5% by year-end. The country's annual core inflation rose unexpectedly in December, to 3.1% from 3.0% in November, according to Statistics Norway data this month, constraining the central bank's ability to reduce borrowing costs. Norges Bank targets core inflation of 2.0% year-on-year. DNB Carnegie said it does not expect new policy signals from Norges Bank this week. "With limited time and data since December, the central bank is likely to reiterate its guidance of one to two rate cuts over the coming year," the brokerage, which expects a single, final cut in June, said in a note. Handelsbanken said that June was the most likely timing for the next cut, although this was "far from a done deal". "Incoming data has broadly supported a wait-and-see approach," it said in a note to clients. (Other stories from the Reuters global economic poll) (Reporting by Jagoda Darlak, polling by Reshma Samuel and Debrah Gomes in Bengaluru, editing by Terje Solsvik, Kirsten Donovan) ((Jagoda.Darlak@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 65 40))