Norway's economy slowed further in the second quarter while first-quarter growth was revised lower, data from Statistics Norway showed on Thursday, making it likely the central bank will cut interest rates later this year, economists said.
A tumble in oil prices and a slowdown in oil industry investments has taken its toll on the country's economy, where the massive offshore sector generates a fifth of GDP.
Growth on the mainland - excluding the offshore oil sector - eased to 0.2 percent in the quarter, in line with analyst forecasts, while the overall economy contracted by 0.1 percent, as predicted by a Reuters poll.
The first-quarter mainland growth figure was revised down to 0.3 percent from an initial 0.5 percent.
The Norwegian crown currency initially weakened against the euro on the news, dropping to 9.2734 after the publication from 9.2525 just ahead of the numbers, but quickly recovered the lost ground to trade at 9.2420 by 0830 GMT
Norges Bank had predicted mainland growth of 0.1 percent in the second quarter.
"It was weak, as expected. My first impression is that it is well in line with Norges Bank's view. This quarter was a little stronger, while the previous quarter was revised down," Nordea Markets economist Erik Bruce said.
He maintained expectations for a rate cut at the central bank's September meeting, although adding that weakness in the Norwegian crown currency could delay a cut by some months.
Following a June rate cut to a record low 1.0 percent, central bank governor Oeystein Olsen said the chance of another cut in September was 60-70 percent.
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