OSLO (AFP) - The debt crisis in Greece is affecting monetary policy as far away as non-EU member Norway, where the central bank slightly hiked rates Wednesday but hinted a true return to higher rate levels could be slowed by the eurozone difficulties.

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Wednesday's rate rise of a quarter-point to 2.0 percent was the third since October 2009, after the oil-rich Scandinavian country exited the financial crisis virtually unscathed.

The hike was widely anticipated, since the central bank has said it wants to gradually return rates to "a more normal level," but further tightening of monetary policy that had been expected this year could easily be delayed.

"When we decide upon interest rates, we look at developments in the international economy as well as in the domestic economy," central bank chief Svein Gjedrem told a press conference.

He was responding to a question on how the Greek crisis could delay future rate hikes.

"It may influence interest rate developments abroad and thus have an indirect impact also on interest rate policies in Norway," he said.

The central bank even acknowledged that it had mulled not going ahead with Wednesday's rate increase due to all the turmoil in the eurozone economy.

While higher interest rates are needed to avoid an overheating of Norway's strong and resilient economy, the central bank is wary to put too much distance between its rates and those in the rest of Europe.

A large gap, observers fear, would likely hit Norwegian export companies, making them less competitive compared to their continental counterparts, and could impact the country's unemployment and economic growth rates.

"Greece itself does not have a big impact on Norway's economy," Gjedrem said.

The main worry is "the consequences this will have for the economies in the eurozone and in all of Europe, and for the expected rate decisions from the ECB (European Central Bank), which will in turn impact the financial markets and thus the Norwegian krone's exchange rate," he said.

"This is not only a moment of truth for Greece. It is also a moment of truth for other countries, small and medium-sized, that have a large public debt and large deficits," he added.

By itself, Norway enjoys a robust economy.

Its mainland gross domestic product (GDP), which excludes the country's big oil and gas sectors and the shipping industry, is expected to swell 2.25 percent this year and 2.75 percent next year, according to forecasts published by the central bank in March.

And while unemployment has recently grown slightly, Norway's jobless rate remains to lowest of all countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), at 3.5 percent in February.

Although many analysts at the end of 2009 were still predicting four central bank rate hikes this year, Wednesday's could be the only one in 2010.

"It is quite possible that this will be the only hike this year, if the financial turmoil in Europe persists and pushes the central bank to revise its growth forecasts for Europe," DnB NOR Markets analyst Kyrre Aamdal said.

The Greek crisis and the risk that it could spread might at the same time simplify the Norwegian central bank's work, he told AFP.

"We already see in recent days that it is more expensive to get financing on the financial markets," Aamdal pointed out.

"If this continues, the banks will not have any other choice but to harden their credit policies and we will thus see the wanted tightening without touching the benchmark rate," he said.

The central bank's next rate decision is scheduled for June 23.