The Norwegian and Swedish currencies will make modest gains against the euro and dollar in 2017, recovering a small part of the ground lost in recent years, a Reuters poll predicted on Friday.
With economies heavily dependent on exports, both Nordic nations operate ultra-loose monetary policies with interest rates at record lows in a bid to support growth and prevent currency rallies.
In Sweden, which recently expanded its money-printing to further stimulate the economy and inflation, the government expects growth to ease to 2.4 percent in 2017 from 3.4 percent in 2016 and 4.1 percent the year before.
Harald Magnus Andreassen, chief economist at Swedbank's Norwegian unit, predicted moderate currency gains.
"The main reason we expect a stronger (Norwegian) crown is the somewhat higher oil price and further signs of improvement in the economy ... We're not super-bullish however," he said, adding the economy was not yet completely out of the woods.
The Norwegian crown was seen strengthening to 8.75 against the euro and 8.33 versus the dollar in the next 12 months from current levels of 9.00 and 8.49, a rise of 2.8 and 1.9 percent respectively, the poll showed.
In 2014, before the plunge in oil prices, it traded at around 8.0 to the euro and 6.0 to the dollar.
Meanwhile, the Swedish crown would likely rise to 9.20 against the euro and 8.761 versus the dollar by the end of 2017 from current levels of 9.55 and 9.01, rising 3.7 and 2.8 percent respectively, data from 40 banks and brokerages showed.
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