Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Norway Krone Gains, Central Bank Ready for Intervention?



The Norway krone fell today as Norway’s central bank and government were concerned about an impact of the strong currency on the nation’s economy.

The currency has reached the eight-year record in September, prompting the Norges Bank to announce that it’s ready to step in and weaken the krone. Such statement, as well as the interest rate cut in December, managed to make the currency depreciate. Since then, though, the krone returned part of its strength and again threatens the Norway economy.

Norway Trade Minister Trond Giske voiced concern that the exchange rate may damage competitiveness of the nation’s exporters. He said that the government needs to cut spending and slow wage growth to curb gains of the currency. The remarks made traders to expect and intervention and to sell the krone.

USD/NOK rose from 5.7331 to 5.7435 as of 1:11 GMT today, following the drop to 5.7296. EUR/NOK climbed from 7.5314 to 7.5339, while the intraday low was 7.5190.

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