Latest news with #SaraMidtgaard
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Nordea Questions Norway's Data on Faltering Home Construction
Norway's official data showing sluggish housing construction may skew the real picture, according to analysts with Nordea Bank Abp, who cited competing evidence of a rise in housing starts. A 'nosedive' in the number of building permits toward the end of last year isn't reflecting what's actually happening on building sites, Nordea's economists Kjetil Olsen and Sara Midtgaard said in the bank's new economic outlook published Wednesday. The data is used by Statistics Norway to calculate a housing investment estimate.
Local Norway
24-03-2025
- Business
- Local Norway
Interest rate uncertainty boosts Norway's weak krone
Norway's krone has weakened against the dollar, euro, pound and most other major currencies over the past few years. However, it has begun to increase in strength recently. On Monday, a euro traded for 11.36 kroner, the strongest Norwegian krone has been against the euro since June 2024. Meanwhile, the krone was at the strongest it has been against the US dollar since September 2024. Analysts have linked the krone's strengthening against the dollar to uncertainty around growth in the US, and fears of a tariff war between the US. However, economists also believe some of the strengthening is due to uncertainty with the key policy rate in Norway. Higher than forecast inflation figures for February have cast doubt on whether interest rates could be lowered on Thursday, March 27th, by the central bank. 'The fact that the krone has strengthened even more, especially against the euro, is probably due to the fact that the market does not expect any significant interest rate cuts anytime soon. No cut has been priced in before September,' currency strategist Sara Midtgaard at Nordea Markets told business and financial site E24 . Furthermore, the krone could continue to strengthen further if the central bank presents a new interest rate path on Thursday, she said. Norway had been using interest rate increases to curb inflation and prevent the economy from overheating. Between 2021 and 2023, the key policy rate rose from 0 percent to 4.75 percent. The central bank had set a rough inflation target of two percent, and earlier this year said that a cut was likely to arrive in March. However, the country's Consumer Price Index was measured at 3.6 percent between February 2024 and the same month this year. Advertisement Since then, economists have warned that inflation figures could mean that any key interest rate cuts would be unlikely to arrive until the autumn or winter. Higher interest rates are good for the Norwegian krone as they make the currency more attractive for investors, which is why the currency has been boosted by uncertainty surrounding the key policy rate. In the longer term, analysts believe that Norway's krone could continue to strengthen. Bank HSBC recently wrote that the factors that had pushed down the Norwegian krone in recent years had stabilised. READ ALSO: Analysts predict Norway's krone could make up lost ground on the euro and US dollar Midtgaard said tax cuts in the US could actually mean the US dollar strengthens against the krone in the short term, but in the longer term, the krone could continue to strengthen against the euro and dollar beyond 2026.
