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BUDGET

Borg pares back municipal billions

As the economic recovery continues, Sweden's government has said local councils can expect 12 billion kronor ($867 million) less in state funding next year following a temporary 17 billion kronor cash injection for 2010.

Published: 6 April 2010 15:32 CEST

“We can see that municipal finances are doing better than expected, meaning we can revise tax income upwards by around 10 billion kronor,” said Minister for Finance Anders Borg in a statement.

Last autumn’s budget saw an additional 17 billion kronor earmarked for the municipal sector in a bid to stave off rising unemployment. Included in the sum was a new, permanent, 5 billion kronor increase in the state’s annual payout to the country’s 290 municipalities.

The government said it has since observed a stabilization in the sector, with the municipal labour market showing a marked improvement in the months since the announcement of the 2010 bonus.

“We will however be following financial progress of the municipal sector carefully,” said Borg.

The minister is set to present the government’s full spring budget proposition next week.

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ECONOMY

Sweden boosts spending on civil defence in spring budget

Sweden is to channel a further 800 million kronor to local government and other organisations to bolster Sweden's civil defence capabilities, the country's finance minister has announced.

Published: 19 April 2022 09:11 CEST
Sweden boosts spending on civil defence in spring budget

The new funding, which will go to municipalities, regional government, and other organisations, was announced of part of the country’s spring budget, announced on Tuesday. 

“This will strengthen our ability to resist in both war and peace,” Sweden’s finance minister, Mikael Damberg, said in a press conference. “If the worst happens, it’s important that there is physical protection for the population.” 

The government is channelling 91m kronor towards renovating Sweden’s 65,000 bomb shelters, and will also fund the repair the country’s network of emergency sirens, known as Hesa Fredrik, or Hoarse Fredrik, many of which are currently out of order. 

A bomb shelter in Stockholm. Sweden’s government is spending 800m kronor in its spring budget to boost civil defence. Photo: Anders Wiklund/ TT

Sweden’s Social Democrats are currently ruling on the alternative budget put together by the right-wing opposition, making this spring budget, which makes changes to the autumn budget, unusually important. 

The budget includes extra spending of some 31.4 billion kronor (€299m), with 500m kronor going to extra spending on healthcare,  and 10.3 billion kronor going towards supporting Ukrainian refugees, of which nine billion will come from the aid budget. 

The spring budget also includes the so called “pension guarantee bonus”, or garantitillägg, which will see four billion kronor (€390m) going to those with the lowest pensions. 

The bonus, which was the price the Left Party demanded for letting Magdalena Andersson take her place as prime minister, risks being voted down by the right-wing parties in the parliament. 

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