The general public's confidence in the Riksbank is on the increase

The general public's confidence in the Riksbank is increasing. Today 64 per cent of the Swedish population consider the Riksbank to be reliable, compared with 55 per cent at the time of the previous survey in 1999.

This result was obtained in a survey commissioned by the Riksbank of attitudes to, and knowledge of, the Riksbank among the general public. The survey also showed an increase in support for monetary policy. The percentage of the general public that considers monetary policy to be conducted in a proper manner had risen to 77 per cent. This can be compared with a figure of 61 per cent in the previous survey.

In addition, 69 per cent of those surveyed expressed support for the Riksbank's inflation target of 2 per cent. This is a marginal decline on the figure of 71 per cent in the 1999 survey.

The survey also showed that knowledge of the Riksbank's monetary policy objective, to safeguard the value of money, had increased compared with earlier surveys. Furthermore, 23 per cent of those asked knew that the inflation target was 2 per cent. On the other hand, knowledge of the Riksbank's other main objective, to promote a safe and efficient payment system, was lower.

"This survey shows an increase in the general public's confidence in the Riksbank, but also that awareness of the Riksbank's aims and objectives needs to be increased," commented Leif Jacobsson, Director of Communications at the Riksbank.

One third of the general public knows that Urban Bäckström is Governor of the Riksbank. The most common associations to the Riksbank are money and interest rates.

The survey was carried out by Eureka Marknadsfakta AB. 1,003 persons between the ages of 16 and 74 were interviewed by telephone during the period 24 August - 1 September. The results reported have a maximum error margin of 3.1 percentage points. The Riksbank has carried out similar surveys since 1996.

The complete results of the opinion poll are only available in Swedish.

For further information please contact Director of Communications Leif Jacobsson, tel. +46-8 - 787 04 14.