Published 16 March 2023 at 10.22
Economy. Inflation is “far too high” and the inflation outcome for February was “not good at all”. That's what Deputy Riksbank Governor Martin Flodén said when he spoke about the financial situation at Barclays in Stockholm.
Share the article
TwittraShare
Inflation
- Inflation rises – to 12 percent
- Record rise in food prices
- The surprise: Inflation rises in France and Spain
- Hospitals pressured by inflation: "Can't afford medicines"
- CPI inflation "fell" to 11.7 percent – but rose excluding energy
Show all
Inflation and rising interest costs are cooling activity in the Swedish economy. Consumption, housing prices and construction have decreased.
– The global economy has so far proven to be relatively resilient to rising prices and interest rates. But it is clear that the interest rate increases are now starting to make an impression on the outside world as well, said Flodén, mentioning the ongoing banking problems in the US and Switzerland.
– We know that Swedish households and companies are sensitive to interest rates. In some other economies, it is not as clear where the interest rate risks are.
Swedish inflation has continued to rise. On Wednesday, the figures for February were presented, which showed that the CPI increased to 12 percent.
– We had expected to now start to see signs of a turnaround in underlying inflation. Instead, it has gone in the wrong direction, said Flodén.
We are now “in a difficult and uncertain situation”, according to the Deputy Governor of the Riksbank.
– The latest inflation outcomes and problems connected to some international banks add to that uncertainty. Before our next monetary policy meeting at the end of April, we will receive a lot of additional information that could influence the inflation outlook and the design of monetary policy. We will return to exactly what this means in terms of interest rate increases and monetary policy in our announcement at the end of April. But we will do what is necessary for inflation to become low and stable again within a reasonable time.