Norway's central bank raised its key policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.0% on Thursday, as expected by almost all economists surveyed by Reuters, and said it aimed for another hike in May and raise it further to hit 3.5% in summer.

Of the 26 economists polled in advance, 25 had anticipated an increase of 25 bps on Thursday while one had bet on an increase of 50 bps. (Reporting by Victoria Klesty and Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)