Norway's central bank kept its policy interest rate on hold at 4.5% today, as unanimously predicted by economists in a Reuters poll, and reiterated that it may still tighten policy to contain inflation. "It will likely be necessary to keep the policy rate elevated for a time, and we are prepared to raise the policy rate if needed to bring inflation down to target within a reasonable time horizon," Norges Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache said in a statement.