LONDON, June 22 Reuters The Norwegian crown surged on Thursday after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points bps, more than expected by a majority of economists surveyed by Reuters, and said it aimed for another hike in August.

In attempt to curb inflation, Norges Bank raised interest rates to 3.75, sending the crown more than 1 higher both against the euro and dollar.

The Norwegian crown rose 1.3 against the dollar to 10.5100, marching towards a sixweek high touched last week.

Versus the euro , it rose 1.2 to 11.5600.

Norges Bank early last month raised the policy rate by 25 bps and added it was likely to hike again in June.

Economists polled by Reuters expected a 25 bps move, but a minority of participants in the survey predicted Norges Bank would hike by 50 bps amid higher than expected growth in consumer prices and a brighter outlook for many Norwegian companies.

Norwegian 3year government bond yield rose 13 bps to 3.94.

Reporting by Joice Alves; Editing by Amanda Cooper

Source Reuters