LONDON: The Swedish crown hit its highest in more than a year against the euro on Thursday, after the Swedish central bank kept interest rates unchanged, as expected, and announced more asset purchases.

But deputy governor Cecilia Skingsley entered a reservation against more quantitative easing while the Riksbank saw the repo rate averaging -0.51 percent in the second quarter, slightly higher than the previous forecast of -0.52 percent.

The crown rose 0.5 percent to hit 9.1150 crowns per euro, its strongest since March last year, compared with 9.1750 beforehand. Against the dollar, it was higher at 8.0897 crowns per dollar.

With the economy growing at a robust pace - it expanded 4.1 percent last year - and inflation topping the central bank's expectations for three months in a row, many analysts believe the Riksbank is drawing close to the end of its easing cycle.

Copyright Reuters, 2016