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Riksbank offers loans to corporate sector

Sweden's central bank said on Wednesday it would facilitate access to loans for non-financial companies feeling the effects of the global crisis.

Published: 29 October 2008 12:44 CET

“The accentuation of problems in financial markets has been accompanied by difficulties in the supply of credit to companies outside the financial sector,” bank chief Stefan Ingves said in a statement.

The Riksbank said it had therefore decided “to improve the supply of loans to the corporate sector (and) facilitate bank lending to large non-financial companies.”

The bank would provide a new temporary credit facility to allow banks to “make greater use than before of collateral in the form of commercial paper with maturities up to one year.”

The central bank said it would offer the new loans to banks through a series of auctions, with the first scheduled for Wednesday, November 5th, for a maximum of 40 billion kronor (4.04 billion euros, 5.16 billion dollars).

Auctions would be held every second week after that, it said.

“This makes it easier for companies to obtain loans and increases the banks’ possibilities of providing companies with liquidity,” Ingves said.

“In that way it also leaves resources for bank loans to smaller companies as well,” he added.

Riksbank deputy 'open to reconsidering raising rates in April'

Uncertainty in the financial market following bank runs in the US and a crisis at Swiss bank Credit Suisse could have changed the playing field, he told TT in an interview.

“It affects which level the key interest rates need to be in order to have a contractive effect,” he said, referring to the recent days of financial market turbulence. “We can’t just look at key interest rates by themselves. It’s the key interest rate in combination with all of these developments which determines how tight financial policy will be.”

He said it was not yet obvious what decision should be taken.

“It’s clear that monetary policy needs to stay tight, but what level of interest is that? We need to assess all of the current developments there.”

‘Could go in different directions’

In theory, there could be such a serious financial crisis, with such a severe effect on lending and banks’ financing costs, that the central bank would be forced to adopt supportive measures, even lowering the key rate.

Flodén doesn’t think Sweden is in that situation, although he thinks there’s a possibility it could happen.

“It’s not something I can see happening right now, at least, although this could go in different directions.”

He added that he doesn’t see any reason for any “special concern”, toning down the risk that a crisis for two smaller niche banks in the US and at Credit Suisse could affect the Swedish financial system.

“Of course, it could lead to some stress, but there aren’t actually any particular signs in Sweden, which are worrying me,” he said.

Flodén is one of six members of the Riksbank executive board, led by Riksbank chief Erik Thedéen, responsible for making a decision on whether interest rates will go up again at the end of April.

The Riksbank has indicated that a rate hike of between 0.25 and 0.5 percent from the current 3 percent rate could be necessary.

Flodén described the most recent inflation statistics for February, where inflation unexpectedly rose to 12 percent, as “not good at all”. So-called KPIF inflation, where the effect of mortgage rates is removed, rose from 9.3 percent to 8.7 percent in January. The Riksbank’s goal is 2 percent.

“It’s clear that inflation is still far too high and that monetary policy needs to be focussed on combatting inflation,” he said, adding that inflation statistics for March will be released before the central bank is due to make a decision on whether to raise rates or not in April.

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