MNI: Norges Bank Leaves Rates Unchanged At 0.50% - Text

     LONDON (MNI) - The Norges Bank has kept its key policy rate unchanged at

0.50%, assessing "the outlook and the balance of risks for the Norwegian economy

do not appear to have changed substantially since the September Report."

     The full text of the Norges Bank statement follows.

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     Key policy rate unchanged at 0.50 percent

     Norges Bank's Executive Board has decided to keep the key policy rate

unchanged at 0.50 percent.

     In Monetary Policy Report 3/17, published on 21 September 2017, the

Executive Board's assessment was that there was a continued need for an

expansionary monetary policy. Capacity utilisation in the Norwegian economy was

assessed to be below a normal level, and inflation was expected to remain below

2.5 percent in the coming years. The Executive Board's assessment of the outlook

and the balance of risks suggested that the key policy rate would remain at 0.5

percent in the period ahead.

     The Executive Board's assessment is that developments so far have been

broadly in line with the picture presented in the September Report. New

information does not provide a basis for changing the Bank's assessment of

growth in the Norwegian economy. The improvement in the labour market appears to

be continuing. Inflation has been slightly lower than projected, while the krone

exchange rate is somewhat weaker than projected.

     "The outlook and the balance of risks for the Norwegian economy do not

appear to have changed substantially since the September Report. The Executive

Board therefore decided to keep the key policy rate unchanged at this meeting",

says Governor Oystein Olsen.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com