Moldova raised rates by 150 basis points on May 7, while Norway’s central bank tightened policy by 25 basis points.
In Moldova, where consumer price inflation rose to 5.8% in March from 4.9% two months earlier, officials felt they could not simply wait it out as many other monetary authorities do. The National Bank of Moldova’s 150 basis point interest rate hike to 6.5% restores the peak level of restraint that existed during the six months ending last August.
Officials at the Bank of Norway also moved away from a wait-and-see stance, surprising analysts who had predicted no change by raising the interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25%.
It was the first increase since the last month of 2023, but there have only been two subsequent 25 basis point cuts before that, the most recent of which came in September 2025.
Norwegian consumer price inflation is 3.6%, above target, and “there are prospects for continued high inflation in the future. High inflation in the long term may lead companies and households to plan for persistently high inflation. In this case, it may become more difficult to reduce inflation. The Supervisory Board of the National Bank of Norway believes that an interest rate increase is necessary to bring inflation back to the target level within a reasonable timeframe,” the regulator said in a press release.
However, officials forecast no more than one 25 basis point increase this year.
