Sweden
Riksbank deputy leads defence against Svensson critique
Vice-governor one of several heavyweights, including former governor and Nobel Foundation head Lars Heikensten, to take on Lars Svensson, who blames the bank for causing unemployment
Riksbank calls for FMI recovery plans
Sweden’s central bank concerned by the lack of recovery and resolution plans for the country’s financial market infrastructures; calls for changes at individual platforms and in legislation
Riksbank appoints two senior managers
Appointments to human resources and cash and payment systems sections follow establishment of three new departments on March 1
Riksbank told to stop ‘leaning against the wind' by national forecaster
Sweden's National Institute for Economic Research sees ‘no reason for monetary policy to be influenced by household debt' in a rebuke of Riksbank policy
Parliament eyes Riksbank's off-mark inflation forecasts
Report on Swedish central bank's performance in 2013 shows its inflation forecasts were off the mark; flawed forecasts have forced several central banks to upend policies in the past months
Riksbank deputy flags danger of leaning against the wind
Karolina Ekholm says use of monetary policy to lean against high indebtedness has created deflation while doing little to solve the debt problems
Riksbank paper examines dynamics of foreign funding by Swedish banks
Study finds currency hedging needs of institutions and companies incentivise Swedish banks to issue securities in foreign currency
Sweden mulls tighter rules on wholesale forex funding
Group comprising top-ranking decision-makers, including Riksbank governor Stefan Ingves and the minister of financial markets, highlights ‘big risk’ of foreign wholesale funding
Interest swaps with longer maturities more sensitive to macroeconomic news, DNB paper suggests
The impact in Sweden of macroeconomic news on the sensitivity of interest rate swaps was reduced at the effective zero lower bound at short maturities but not at longer maturities, according to paper
Riksbank worries over fallout from ‘sharp corrections' in house prices
Swedish households' interest-rate expectations guided by current levels rather than projections, recently published document finds; Lars Svensson calls findings potentially ‘biased and misleading'
Riksbank cuts rates on falling inflation, leaning less against the wind
Swedish central bank cuts interest rates by 25bp to 0.75% to counter falling inflation; household debt levels still a risk, says Ingves, but calls on ‘others' to do more to keep them in check
Sveriges Riksbank overhauls communication strategy
Sweden's central bank will focus on ‘dialogue' to better explain its operations; 'openness and clarity' remain guiding principles for the bank, which regularly tops transparency rankings
Sveriges Riksbank calls for higher risk weights on mortgages
Central bank's latest financial stability report supports regulatory proposal to raise minimum amount of capital banks must back up housing loans with from 15 to 25%
Riksbank reviews 20 years of inflation targeting
Sweden’s central bank publishes four research papers on different countries’ experience of inflation targeting and monetary policy; Lars Svensson and Michael Woodford are among the contributors
Monetary policy is the incorrect tool to curb asset bubbles
There is no evidence the use of monetary policy in Sweden to keep household debt in check actually works. Such a policy only undermines employment and results in the Riksbank breaching its mandate
Riksbank policy-makers differ 'fundamentally' on role of central bank, says deputy governor
Sveriges Riksbank deputy says policy approach is marginally beneficial at best and risks undermining 'public confidence' in central bank's targeting of inflation
Leaning against the wind does more harm than good, warns Svensson
Former Riksbank deputy Lars Svensson argues higher interest rates to combat asset bubbles and financial instability have the opposite effect by raising the real debt burden of households
ECB’s Asmussen urges Denmark and Sweden to sit at banking union table
Jörg Asmussen says the single supervisory mechanism will be the envy of those outside the eurozone; tells Denmark and Sweden they will get more of a say if they have ‘a chair at the table’ now
Finland joins Riksbank in greater gold transparency
Bank of Finland joins Riksbank in revealing where it stores its gold; both banks cite geographical diversification as a motivation, but say it still makes sense to keep most in London
Swedish policy-makers clash on mortgage risk weights
Heads of Sveriges Riksbank and Swedish Financial Services Authority disagree over where to set the risk-weight floor on mortgages
Riksbank hits back over ‘systematically inaccurate' inflation forecasts
Swedish central bank rebuffs claims from the National Institute of Economic Research, that it has overestimated inflation for more than a decade with implications for interest rates and growth
Composite indicator shows Swedish banks' systemic importance varied through crisis
Riksbank research finds large time-based variations in the systemic importance of Sweden's four biggest banks before, during and after the financial crisis
New Riksbank deputy explains reasons behind dissent
In his first public address as a Swedish monetary policy-maker, Martin Flodén says a cut in interest rates will help inflation target to be reached sooner, limiting financial imbalances in the long term
Scandinavians open macro-pru toolbox to cool overheated housing markets
Rising property prices, increasing household debt and towering banking sectors are pushing Norway, Sweden, and Denmark to consider unconventional measures to pre-empt a crash