Norway’s economy grew more than estimated in the third quarter as a weaker krone boosted exports.
Seasonally adjusted gross domestic product, excluding oil, gas and shipping, grew 0.2 percent, after expanding a revised 0.3 percent in the second quarter, Statistics Norway said last week.
“Obviously the krone is doing its job, we see that in the lift in exports,” said Magne Oestnor, an analyst at DNB ASA in Oslo. “That’s one of the main shock absorbers that we currently have, it’s doing its best to improve the competitiveness of Norwegian companies. Exports are growing steadily in a global environment that is looking gloomier.”
With almost half of its exports, and one in nine jobs related to oil, weak crude prices have sent ripples through Norway’s economy. That has prompted Norway’s central bank to deliver three rate cuts since December, which led to a weakening in the krone that is helping exporters. The bank has signaled the possibility of more easing in the coming year.
Exports jumped 4.6 percent in the third quarter, while petroleum and shipping industry output increased 7.5 percent, the statistics agency said. Consumer spending was little changed.