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ECONOMY

Sweden’s central bank hikes core rate to highest level in 14 years

Sweden's Riksbank central bank announced a further 75 point increase in the core interest rate on Thursday, in what it likely to be the last interest rate decision by outgoing governor Stefan Ingves.

Sweden's central bank hikes core rate to highest level in 14 years
Sweden's Riksbank governor holds a press conference on Thursday announcing the rate rise. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

While the 75 point hike was expected by the market, the bank signalled that it now expected rates to peak at 2.8 percent next year, up from 2.5 percent in it previous forecast. 

“Inflation is too high and it’s creating problems for many, many households and many, many others,” Ingves said at a press conference after the announcement. 

“Our judgement right now is that the core rate is going to need to be hiked again at the beginning of next year and will end up somewhere around 3 percent. This unusually high inflation that we’ve had demands unusually big increases in the core rate.” 

Thursday’s rate announcement follows the 100-point rise in interest rates announced at the end of September, the biggest single increase the central bank had made in 30 years. 

It means the country’s core interest rate will have risen from zero to 2.5 percent in less than a year.  

“I think that’s too much. The Swedish economy is starting to buckle,” said Annika Winsth, chief economist for the Nordea bank. “It’s a little bit more aggressive than we expected. It’s not certain it will happen, and if it does, it won’t be good for the Swedish economy.”  

“The prognosis indicates that the core interest rate is probably going to be further increased at the start of next year to just under 3 percent,” the bank wrote in a press release. “The Riksbank is going to adapt monetary policy to whatever is required to make sure that inflation returns to the target level within a reasonable period.” 

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PROPERTY

Swedish property market on steady upward climb

Is the Swedish property market coming back to life after a long period of hibernation? Recent figures suggest as much.

Swedish property market on steady upward climb

Swedish property prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in April – 5.8 percent since the turn of the year and 1.7 percent compared to the previous month, according to state-owned mortgage bank SBAB.

The price of a detached home rose 1.9 percent in April compared to March, and apartments rose by 1.2 percent.

SIX MISTAKES TO AVOID:

It’s not unusual for the property market to perk up in spring, but there’s a clear increase even adjusting for seasonal effects. 

“Summed up since the turn of the year, apartment prices have risen by over 7 percent. Even the estimated trend shows a clear increase, in other words prices are rising more than you would expect given the time of the year,” said SBAB chief economist Robert Boije in a statement.

A major reason behind the price increase is the expectation that Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, has stopped raising the country’s main interest rate and the hope that it might even cut the rate in its next announcement, which will come next week.

While this is expected to bump up the price of buying a property, it is on the other hand also likely to lead to lower mortgage rates.

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