The Scandinavian country has joined a growing group of countries to cut its key interest rate to negative — a historical first for the Nordic nation that shows how authorities globally are resorting to new methods to nudge up inflation and growth. Central banks across Europe are fighting to stop their economies from slipping into damaging deflationary cycles that could be difficult to reverse.

“What we’ve seen since the end of 2014 and the start of this year is a type of chicken race between central banks. Several of them have chosen to lower interest rates and expand their balance sheets,” bank SEB’s chief economist Robert Bergquist told AFP.