COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden's central bank says it has raised its benchmark interest rate to zero from -0.25% amid signs that inflation has been picking up.

The bank said Thursday the country's inflation has been close to its official target of 2% since the start of 2017, and assessed “the conditions are good for inflation to remain close to the target going forward.”

The bank said the rate was “expected to remain at 0% in the coming years.”

It added that “similar to economies abroad, the Swedish economy has entered a phase with lower growth” but the Scandinavian country's “slowdown is occurring after several years of high growth and strong developments on the labor market, and overall it means that the Swedish economy is going from a stronger-than-normal cycle to a more normal situation.”