Ingves and Ekholm: Hearing on monetary policy
Date
06/03/2014
On Thursday, Governor Stefan Ingves and Deputy Governor Karolina Ekholm took part in the year's first hearing on monetary policy at the Riksdag Committee on Finance.
Mr Ingves gave an account of the situation in the Swedish economy which, since the financial crisis, has developed well compared with many countries, both as regards GDP and the labour market. In his introduction to the hearing, Mr Ingves focused particularly on inflation and unemployment in Sweden. The low rate of inflation means that monetary policy now needs to be expansionary and Mr Ingves emphasised that the repo rate needs to remain low until inflation picks up. The low repo rate is also contributing to falling unemployment. But reducing unemployment more significantly will also require measures in other policy areas.
Ms Ekholm presented her view of monetary policy: that she supported the most recent monetary policy decisions but also that she had previously entered reservations in preference of a more expansionary monetary policy. Ms Ekholm discussed how international interest rate differentials may affect the krona, the role of indebtedness in the monetary policy decisions, and the importance of safeguarding confidence in the inflation target.
Follow the links to see the PowerPoint presentations to the Riksdag Committee on Finance.
The Governor of the Riksbank and one of the Deputy Governors attend hearings on monetary policy at the Riksdag Committee on Finance three times a year.
