The Norwegian central bank, Norges Bank, has executed an emergency rate reduction of 50 basis points to 1 percent, as politicians attempt to stimulate the economy.
The bank revealed this on Friday morning, a week before a scheduled meeting to discuss rates, saying that it is monitoring the situation closely and is ready to reduce the key interest rate further.
"A lower key interest rate cannot stop the coronavirus outbreak from having a significant impact on the Norwegian economy, but it can dampen the downturn and alleviate the risk of more long-term effects on production and activity," says the head of the central bank, Oystein Olsen.
Norwegian politicians are fighting to protect their oil and trade-dependent economy from destruction in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and a drop in oil prices.
This post originally appeared on AM Watch.
