Minutes of the monetary policy meeting held on 15 February 2012

The decision was made against the background of the monetary policy discussion. The conclusion of the discussion was that, even if the global economy as a whole is growing at a relatively good rate, growth prospects have deteriorated in large parts of the euro area. Sluggish growth in the euro area has subdued the demand for Swedish exports, which slowed down significantly in late 2011. The weaker economic outlook has led the households to begin saving more and to postpone their consumption, while the companies are postponing their investment. GDP growth will therefore be low in the period immediately ahead. It has been clear for some time that there would be a slowdown, but the slowdown has been more severe than expected. The weaker economic development is also affecting the labour market and unemployment will increase somewhat during the year. Confidence among households and companies will gradually return once the concern about public debts in the euro area subsides, and next year, the Swedish economy will grow at a more normal rate once again. The weaker demand in Sweden and abroad will help to keep inflationary pressures low in the years ahead.

Deputy Governors Karolina Ekholm and Lars E.O. Svensson entered a reservation against the decision to cut the repo rate to 1.50 and against the repo-rate path in the Monetary Policy Report.

You can read the full minutes of the monetary policy meeting held on 15 February in the attached PDF file.