Norway’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 4.50% on 5 November 2026, leaving in place the hike delivered just six weeks earlier at the September 23–24 meeting. The announcement, made at 10:00 Oslo time, was an interim decision between full Monetary Policy Report rounds. Understanding the Norges Bank policy rate in full requires looking at these details closely.
The Norges Bank policy rate decision was widely expected by markets, and this article sets out what was announced, what we know about the reasoning, and what to watch next — drawing on the central bank’s own publication and corroborating coverage. The broader directory context comes from gf6.com’s four-year curated database of bank and ATM locations worldwide.
The finding — a hold at 4.50% after September’s hike — Norges Bank policy rate
The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee left the policy rate at 4.50% at its 5 November 2026 meeting. The rate itself had been lifted from 4.25% to 4.50% at the preceding September 23–24 meeting, which remains the most recent change. The next full Monetary Policy Report is scheduled for 17 December. These figures put the Norges Bank policy rate into clearer perspective.
The key published facts are summarised below.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Announcement date | 5 November 2026, 10:00 Oslo time |
| Policy rate (current) | 4.50% |
| Previous rate | 4.25% |
| Date of most recent change | 23–24 September 2026 |
| Meeting type | Interim (non-MPR) |
| Next Monetary Policy Report | 17 December 2026 |
The decision was reported by Norges Bank itself and independently covered by multiple outlets, including Norges Bank’s September press release and Trading Economics.
What it means
A hold at an interim meeting, immediately after a hike, is typically read as a pause-and-observe stance rather than a signal of a new direction. Norges Bank raised the rate in September on the view that a somewhat tighter stance was needed to return inflation to the 2% target within a reasonable time horizon. Keeping the rate unchanged in November is consistent with letting that September move work through the economy before the Committee prepares its next full assessment in December. This context matters for anyone following the Norges Bank policy rate.
The Committee’s stated reasoning at the September decision was summarised by Governor Ida Wolden Bache: “Inflation has been above target for several years. By raising the policy rate, we are helping to reduce inflation.” It is a central thread in the wider Norges Bank policy rate.
For currency and rate-path watchers, Norway is a useful mid-sized case: a small open economy with its own floating currency, outside the euro area, making an interim call between scheduled policy rounds. The November hold leaves the full forward guidance — rate path, projections and balance of risks — to the 17 December Monetary Policy Report. Such details shaped how the Norges Bank policy rate unfolded.
For customers of banks in Norway, an unchanged policy rate at this meeting means no fresh impulse from the central bank between September’s hike and the December report, though pass-through from the earlier move to deposit and lending rates can continue to filter through.
Explore the full data behind this article: bank branches worldwide and ATMs worldwide in the gf6.com directory.
Methodology
The rate, dates and meeting status in this article come directly from Norges Bank’s official policy rate page — see the primary source at Norges Bank — and are corroborated by the September 24, 2026 press release and Trading Economics’ Norway interest rate page linked above. The verbatim quote is taken from the September 24, 2026 Norges Bank press release and is attributed to Governor Ida Wolden Bache. The surrounding directory context — Norway’s bank and ATM network — is drawn from gf6.com’s own curated worldwide directory of roughly 445,000 financial locations, compiled and expanded manually over four years from public sources. Coverage varies by country and the sample is large but incomplete; the directory is not an official government dataset.
Frequently asked questions
What did Norges Bank decide on 5 November 2026?
The Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Committee kept the policy rate unchanged at 4.50%. The decision was announced at 10:00 Oslo time as an interim meeting between full Monetary Policy Reports.
When was the policy rate last changed?
The most recent change was at the 23–24 September 2026 meeting, when the rate was raised from 4.25% to 4.50%. There has been no change since then.
Why did Norges Bank raise the rate in September?
The Committee judged that a somewhat tighter monetary stance was needed to bring inflation back to the 2% target within a reasonable time horizon. Governor Ida Wolden Bache said: “Inflation has been above target for several years. By raising the policy rate, we are helping to reduce inflation.”
When is the next rate decision?
The next full Monetary Policy Report is scheduled for 17 December 2026. That round, rather than an interim meeting, is typically where updated projections and the rate path are published.
Was the November hold expected?
Market consensus and analyst forecasts, as reflected on Trading Economics and in FX-specialist coverage, pointed firmly to a hold at 4.50% at the 5 November meeting. The outcome was in line with those expectations.
Where can I verify these figures?
The current rate and the November 5 announcement date are listed on Norges Bank’s official policy rate page. The September change and the Governor’s statement appear in the Norges Bank press release of 24 September 2026, with Trading Economics providing independent corroboration.
This article was produced with AI assistance from publicly available sources and is handled under our editorial standards and AI policy.
I have been online since 1995. For many years, I worked in the e-commerce sector, setting up several online shops, and have always been interested in data analysis. In 2007, I moved to the Seychelles to work from there or as a digital nomad. In recent years, I have increasingly specialised in the financial sector. I manage the Seychelles’ Commercial Register and am also very familiar with the offshore world. GF6.com is a project I have been working on for many years. I built and curated the 445,000-entry bank database myself over a period of six years, and for the past two years or so I have also been using AI to achieve better structures.
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