Norway's central bank is nearing its first interest rate cut in five years, although keeping inflation in check will require a higher cost of borrowing than for much of the last decade, Norges Bank governor Ida Wolden Bache said on Thursday.

Policymakers in Norway should be open to the idea that the country's $1.8 trillion wealth fund be allowed to invest in weapons makers that are currently banned from its portfolio on ethical grounds, the central bank chief said on Thursday.