Norway Core Inflation Keeps Pace, Backing Rate-Hike Plan

Norway’s underlying inflation remained steady last month in line with the forecast by the nation’s central bank, cementing chances for an interest-rate hike in coming months.

Underlying consumer-price growth excluding energy kept pace in March at 3.0%, partly helped by lower food prices due to the timing of Easter holidays, according to data from the statistics office on Friday. That matched Norges Bank’s projection and fell just short of the 3.1% median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.