Norwegian residential mortgage lending regulations will be tightened and the countercyclical buffer (CCB) for banks increased to 1.5%, the Ministry of Finance announced this week, while Norges Bank cut its key policy rate by 0.25% today (Thursday).

The new Norwegian government followed up on a pre-election pledge to ease mortgage standards by asking the country’s FSA to examine lending practices on Tuesday of last week (29 October), and Moody’s said on Monday that any loosening would be credit negative for Norwegian banks and covered bonds.