OSLO - The Norwegian central bank chief said in a speech on Norwegian housing finance on Monday that loan-to-value ratios were in some cases alarmingly high.

I think it's fair to say that housing finance in Norway is in its infancy, the published text to Governor Svein Gjedrem's speech said.

Mortgage companies have a limited role in housing finance, Gjedrem said. Loan-to-value ratios are in some cases alarmingly high.

The central bank said Gjedrem's lecture did not contain assessments of the economic situation or current interest rate setting.

Norway's central bank is expected to hold interest rates unchanged at 1.75 percent next week, according to a unanimous Reuters survey from Tuesday. [ID:nLDE60P0DH]

Norway's economy went through a relatively mild recession, unlike its Nordic neighbours, helped by fiscal stimulus funded by its huge oil windfall and a slashing of borrowing costs to record lows.

(Reporting by Richard Solem)

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